crevasse
kreh-VASS
An open crack in the surface of a glacier, formed when the ice moves over uneven terrain or flows at different speeds in different places, and the brittle upper layer fractures under the stress. Crevasses can be 150 feet deep, 60 feet wide, and hidden beneath a thin snow bridge that looks solid until you step on it. They are the constant, invisible danger of glacier travel.
Etymology
French crevasse, a crack, a fissure, from Old French crever, to break. The word carries the sound of breaking.
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