US /məˈɹeɪn/ UK /məˈɹeɪn/
noun Freq #91013

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a mass or ridge of rock, soil, and other debris carried and deposited by a glacier

    A long moraine marked the glacier's former edge across the valley.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a mass or ridge of rock,... glacial depositglacial debris
Word family
Forms moraines
Derived forms morainalmorainic
Related forms glaciertill

Etymology

Borrowed from French moraine, from a Franco-Provencal and Savoyard word for a mound of earth or stones, probably related to morre ("muzzle, projecting snout"). Geologists applied it to the ridges and accumulations left by glaciers.

Topics

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