cyclopean stairs

English

Noun

cyclopean stairs pl (plural only)

  1. A glaciated valley that has several consecutive hanging valleys or riegels (ridges) giving the appearance of an enormous staircase.
    Coordinate terms: glacial stairway, glacial steps
    • 2019 July 16, Doug Wheat, Walks of Life: your Journey back to nature, Page Publishing Inc, →ISBN:
      The glacier bears heaviest at the foot of the steepest part where it scoops out a plunge basin that fills with a glacial lake. It bears down with less force as it recovers from its fall, loses energy coming up out of the basin it created, but then falls again to scoop out the next lake basin, and so on down the steep-walled canyon it has carved. These giant steps are what geologists call Cyclopean stairs, not only because they are giant sized, but also because each has a deep blue “eye” looking up to the sky. U-shaped canyons, massive corridors of Cyclopean stairs, each stair holding a blue jewel or two that glitters […]
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cyclopean,‎ stairs. (Stairs made of huge (irregular) stones which have been fitted together.)
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