cirque
n.n. a bowl-shaped valley or depression in the ground, usually formed by glaciers. It looks like a large, natural amphitheater.
n. a bowl-shaped valley or depression, typically formed by glacial erosion. Often used to describe the circular hollows found at the head of a valley.
The hikers reached the bottom of the cirque after a long climb.
Geologists identified the cirque as a classic example of glacial activity from the last ice age.
The valley floor was carved into a deep cirque by the relentless movement of ancient ice, leaving behind steep, smooth-walled cliffs that still echo with the sound of rushing water.
Borrowed from French cirque (“circular arena; cirque”), from Latin circus (“circle, ring”), from Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos, “circle, ring; racecourse, circus”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend; to turn”). Doublet of circus.