Definition

1. Noun:
   • A deep fissure or crack, especially in a glacier or ice sheet: A "crevasse" is a large, deep crack that forms in glacial ice due to the movement and stress of the ice mass. It is a specific geological feature.
   • A significant split or fissure in the earth: By extension, it can refer to any large, deep crack in the ground or in a rock formation.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The climbers used ropes to carefully cross the deep crevasse in the glacier.
  • A sudden crevasse opened in the ice field, revealing the blue ice beneath.
  • The earthquake created a dangerous crevasse that split the road in two.

Advanced Usage

• "To fall into a crevasse": This phrase describes the specific danger of accidentally dropping into one of these deep cracks.
  • The explorer was rescued after falling into a hidden crevasse.
• "Crevasse rescue": A technical term for the procedures and equipment used to save someone who has fallen into a crevasse.
  • All mountaineers on the expedition were trained in crevasse rescue techniques.

Variants and Related Words

• Fissure (n): A long, narrow opening or crack, often used more generally than "crevasse."
  • A fissure in the rock allowed water to seep through.
• Chasm (n): A deep fissure in the earth's surface; a gorge or abyss. It often implies a wider opening than a "crevasse."
  • The canyon was a vast chasm between the mountains.

Synonyms

• Fissure: A long, narrow crack or split.
• Cleft: A space or opening made by splitting; a crack.
• Crack: A line on the surface of something along which it has split without breaking apart.

Related Phrases

• Bergschrund (n): A specific type of crevasse that forms where moving glacier ice separates from the stagnant ice above.
  • The bergschrund at the head of the glacier was particularly treacherous.
• Serac (n): A block or pinnacle of ice formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier.
  • The climbers navigated a field of unstable seracs.

Idioms

• No direct idioms commonly use the word "crevasse." It is primarily a technical term. However, it can be used metaphorically to describe a deep division or gap.
  • A crevasse of misunderstanding had opened between the two old friends. (This is a figurative, non-standard use.)

Noun

1. a deep fissure