Gorge
noun /ɡɔːdʒ/ — A deep narrow valley with steep sides — cut by water over centuries.
Definition
A narrow valley between hills or mountains, typically with steep rocky walls and a stream running through it.
Beyond the definition
A gorge is the patient work of water made visible — centuries of a river insisting, and the stone eventually yielding. Standing at the rim, you understand geological time in a way that a history book never quite delivers.
Origin & history
From Old French gorge — throat (from Latin gurges: whirlpool, throat). The narrow valley is named for its resemblance to a throat — the carved passage through which water moves.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The gorge dropped sharply away from the path — hundreds of feet of sheer rock with a silver thread of river at the bottom.
They hiked through the gorge in silence; something about the scale made conversation feel presumptuous.
She thought of all the things that had been lost in gorges — expeditions, afternoon light, the sense of scale.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Related words
Word in the Wild
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Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Waterfall crashing into deep gorge
A waterfall crashes down into a swirling river within a deep, rocky canyon, with an adult standing on a ledge.
The narrow, steep rocky walls surrounding the river form a gorge. The scale of the natural feature emphasizes its role as a deep, carved passage through the landscape.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration