escarpment

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a long, steep slope or cliff separating two areas of relatively level ground

   A sheer escarpment marked the edge of the plateau.

2. 2
   noun

   a steep defensive slope or face in front of a fortification

   The attackers struggled to cross the escarpment below the fortress wall.

Borrowed from French escarpement, from escarper ("to make steep"). The military term for a steep defensive face broadened in geology and geography to a long cliff or steep slope between areas of different elevation.

Topics