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corrie

/ˈkɔri/
IPA guide

Other forms: corries

A corrie is a bowl-shaped indentation in the side or top of a mountain. Corries are formed by glaciers, and they often turn into small lakes over time as they fill with water.

Another name for a corrie is a cirque. These landforms are commonly described as "natural amphitheaters," based on their round, concave shape. It takes glacial ice flowing in different directions to gradually carve a corrie from mountain rock. The deep basin then catches any melting water and forms a lake known as a tarn. Corrie comes from the Scottish Gaelic coire, "pot or cauldron."

Definitions of corrie
  1. noun
    a bowl-shaped mountain basin formed by glacier erosion; may contain a lake
    synonyms: cirque, cwm
    see moresee less
    type of:
    basin
    a natural depression in the surface of the land often with a lake at the bottom of it
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