ESCARPMENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does escarpment mean? 

• ESCARPMENT (noun)
  The noun ESCARPMENT has 2 senses:

1. a long steep slope or cliff at the edge of a plateau or ridge; usually formed by erosion

2. a steep artificial slope in front of a fortification

  Familiarity information: ESCARPMENT used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ESCARPMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A long steep slope or cliff at the edge of a plateau or ridge; usually formed by erosion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

escarpment; scarp

Hypernyms ("escarpment" is a kind of...):

incline; side; slope (an elevated geological formation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A steep artificial slope in front of a fortification

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

escarp; escarpment; protective embankment; scarp

Hypernyms ("escarpment" is a kind of...):

fortification; munition (defensive structure consisting of walls or mounds built around a stronghold to strengthen it)

 Context examples 

There the basalt cliffs of the outside were reproduced upon the inside, forming an escarpment about two hundred feet high, with a woody slope beneath it.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)