Moraine

//məˈɹeɪn// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An accumulation of rocks and debris carried and deposited by a glacier.

    "1896, James Edward Todd, The Moraines of the Missouri Coteau, and Their Attendant Deposits, US Geological Survey, Bulletin No. 144, page 47, This fact is suggestive in connection with the question whether the moraines mark different epochs of the ice age or different stages in the recession of the ice of one epoch. This moraine, like the previous ones, influenced the drainage of the country. Several streams have evidently been located or directed by the influence of this moraine."

  2. 2
    accumulated earth and stones deposited by a glacier wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
alluviumashcinderclinkerdebrisdeposit

Example

More examples

"This mountain is composed of molasse, which is partly covered by moraine material."

Etymology

From French moraine, from Savoyard Italian morena, from Franco-Provençal mor, morre (“muzzle, snout”), from Vulgar Latin *murrum. Compare morion.

Related phrases

end moraineground morainelateral morainemedial morainepush morainepushed moraineterminal moraine

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.