escarpment
noun /ɪˈskɑːpmənt/
/ɪˈskɑːrpmənt/
- a steep slope that separates an area of high ground from an area of lower ground
- The clay lowlands are flanked by steep chalk escarpments.
Word Originearly 19th cent.: from French escarpement, escarpe ‘scarp, a very steep slope’, from Italian scarpa ‘slope’. Compare with scarp.