Landscape, weather and the language of place
Open a theme, then select a word or phrase for its meaning, example and pronunciation.
1. Landforms in context (20 entries)
- escarpment
- outcrop
- crag
- an undulating plateau
- a confluence
- surface runoff
- a drainage basin
- a headwater
- alpine
- estuarine
- sediment deposition
- alluvial
- a tributary
- a limestone outcrop
- a spring-fed stream
- a steep-sided ravine
- a narrow promontory
- topography
- acreage
- annex
2. Weather intensity (20 entries)
- squall
- cloudburst
- a low-lying mist
- a precipitous drop
- a turbulent eddy
- a pall of smoke
- a windswept ridge
- a sheer escarpment
- a shallow depression
- the crest of a swell
- a shifting sandbank
- a bank of low cloud
- parched
- the lee of a wall
- waterlogged
- glacial
- meteorology
- vortex
- rumble
- blitz
3. Water and the coast (20 entries)
- tidal flat
- undertow
- ebb
- eddy
- a tidal bore
- maritime
- a persistent sea fret
- a tidal estuary
- an eroded shoreline
- an offshore squall
- tidal inundation
- a salt marsh
- floe
- cay
- shoal
- floodgates
- torrential
- mariner
- throw the baby out with the bathwater
- maverick
4. Habitats, surroundings and atmosphere (20 entries)
- habitation
- inundated
- subtropical
- roar
- an ecological niche
- plumage
- avian
- solitary
- stratosphere
- perch
- totemic
- homestead
- plume
- brood
- vermin
- weed
- elephantine
- chrysalis
- hibernate
- concentric
5. Literal and figurative description (20 entries)
- a sea change
- vicinity
- spatial
- minefield
- a fleeting respite
- ethos
- all-encompassing
- loiter
- contrive
- brink
- deprivation
- hypernymy
- confabulate
- edifice
- depressive
- promenade
- nigh
- brouhaha
- hitherto