dune
n. countablen. a hill of sand that the wind has made. You usually find these in deserts or near the ocean.
n. a mound, ridge, or hill of loose sand heaped up by the wind. Commonly found in arid regions or along coastal shorelines.
The children ran down the tall sand dune.
Strong winds constantly reshape the dune, making the desert landscape look different every morning.
Coastal vegetation plays a vital role in stabilizing the dune system, preventing the sand from encroaching upon inland infrastructure during severe storms.
Partly from a dialectal form of down; and partly from French dune (from Old French dune), or from Middle Dutch dūne (modern Dutch duin), or from Middle Low German dûne; all ultimately from Proto-West Germanic dūn, dūnā, probably from Proto-Celtic dūnom (“stronghold, rampart”), from Proto-Indo-European dʰuHnom (“enclosure”), from *dʰewh₂- (“to finish, come full circle”). Doublet of down (which see).
Often used in the compound 'sand dune'.