Precipice

English

Noun

Precipice (plural Precipices)

1. A very steep cliff.
   • 1719- Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

     I resolved to remove my tent from the place where it stood, which was just under the hanging precipice of the hill; and which, if it should be shaken again, would certainly fall upon my tent...

2. The brink of a dangerous situation.

   to stand on a precipice

3. (obsolete) A headlong fall or descent.

Synonyms

• cliff

Related terms

• precipitous
• precipitously
• precipitousness

Adjectives for Precipice

frowning; dizzy; granite; vertical; dread; superb; hanging; wooded; tremendous; beetling; cloven; rimmed; slippery; ivy-covered; stupendous.

Verbs for Precipice

careen down—; clamber up—; cling to—; hang on—; hazard—; risk—; scan—; slide; down—; survey—; teeter on—; venture on —; —blocks; —cuts off; —endangers; —engulfs; —jeopardizes; —imperils; —swallows.

Thesaurus

bluff, cliff, crag, crest, escarpment, face, hilltop, knoll, lofty peak, mountaintop, palisade, palisades, peak, pic, pico, pike, pinnacle, point, scar, scarp, spur, steep, summit, tor, wall

Etymology

First attested in 1598, from Latin *praecipitium (“a steep place”), from praeceps (“steep”), from prae + caput (“head”). First meaning of the noun is recorded from 1632.

Translations

Translations

Basque: amildegi (eu), malkar (eu) Catalan: precipici (ca) m. Chinese: Simplified Characters: 悬崖 (xuán-yá) Traditional Characters: 懸崖 (xuán-yá) Dutch: afgrond (nl) m. Finnish: kallioseinämä (fi), kalliojyrkänne (fi) French: précipice (fr) m. Georgian: ხრამი (ka) (xrami) German: Abgrund (de) m.

Hebrew: צוק (he) m. Italian: precipizio (it) m., dirupo (it) m., baratro (it) m., burrone (it) m. Japanese: 絶壁 ('), 断崖 (?) Korean: 절벽 (ǧŏl-byŏk / jeol-byeok) Old Norse: brant (Eastern dialect), bratt (Western dialect) Polish: przepaść (pl) f. Portuguese: precipício m. Russian: пропасть (propast') f., обрыв (obryv) m. Spanish: precipicio (es) m.

The translations below need to be checked.

• Greek: γκρεμός [ɡre̞ˈmo̞s] m., κρημνός [kriˈmno̞s] m., βάραθρο [ˈvaraˌθro̞] n., χαράδρα [xaˈraðra] f.