cluse

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English

Etymology

In many cases, italicized as a borrowing of French cluse. In Early Modern texts, possibly a continuation of Middle English cluse, Old English clūse (narrow pass).

Pronunciation

Noun

cluse (plural cluses)

  1. A defile or narrow gorge, especially one that cuts transversely through the rock of an otherwise continuous ridge.
    • 1876, Elisée Reclus, The Earth and Its Inhabitants: France and Switzerland, page 150:
      others are bounded by the steep walls of the cluses, these being the most picturesque; others, again, occupy the combes referred to above.
    • 1892, Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, page 402:
      Penck states that many a cluse in the Jura may have been formed by subterranean streams widening their channels until the covering broke down and their subterranean valleys became exposed
    • 1953, O. D. von Engeln, Geomorphology: Systematic and Regional, page 324:
      narrow cluses still exist. The distinctive nature of the geomorphic forms of the Jura is indicated by the fact that each such item is identified locally by a particular term.
    • 2024, Kholoud Kahime, Mohamed El Yamani, Stéphane Pouffary, Climate Change Effects and Sustainability Needs, page 83:
      cut by the wadis of the Atlas which gave birth to very steep cluses (Lechhab 1991).

French

Etymology

From Latin clusa.

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Noun

cluse f (plural cluses)

  1. water gap
  2. defile

Further reading

Latin

Participle

clūse

  1. vocative masculine singular of clūsus

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *klūsā.

Pronunciation

Noun

clūse f

  1. bar, bolt
  2. enclosure
  3. a narrow pass or passageway
  4. cell; prison
  5. dam

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle English: cluse, clouse, clowse