CANYON

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A ravine formed by a river in an area with little rainfall

Synonyms:

canon; canyon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

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

ravine (a deep narrow steep-sided valley (especially one formed by running water))

Meronyms (parts of "canyon"):

canyonside (the steeply sloping side of a canyon)

Domain region:

North America (a continent (the third largest) in the western hemisphere connected to South America by the Isthmus of Panama)

Credits

Context examples:

Morlighem's new topography shows southern Greenland's ragged, crumbling coastline is scored by more than 100 canyons beneath glaciers that empty into the ocean.

(Hidden Greenland canyons mean more sea level rise, NASA)

The canyons also are quite deep — those measured are 790 to 1,870 feet (240 to 570 meters) from top to bottom.

(Cassini Finds Flooded Canyons on Titan, NASA)

This map of the western Candor Chasma canyon within Mars' Valles Marineris is the highest-resolution Martian geological map ever relased by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

(Signs of Ancient Mars Lakes and Quakes Seen in New Map, NASA)

A deep canyon informally named Argo Chasma is seen grazing the limb.

(A ‘Super Grand Canyon’ on Pluto’s Moon Charon, NASA)

This great canyon system stretches more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) across the entire face of Charon and likely around onto Charon’s far side.

(Pluto’s Big Moon Charon Reveals a Colorful and Violent History, NASA)

Scientists at NASA and the University of California, Irvine, have found that canyons under Greenland's ocean-feeding glaciers are deeper and longer than previously thought, increasing the amount of Greenland's estimated contribution to future sea level rise.

(Hidden Greenland canyons mean more sea level rise, NASA)

The timing of the radar echoes, as they bounced off the canyons' edges and floors, provided a direct measure of their depths.

(Cassini Finds Flooded Canyons on Titan, NASA)

Possibilities proposed have included accumulation in lakebeds, volcanic eruptions under glaciers within the canyons, and acculation of wind-blown sand and dust.