precipice

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: prec=i=pice

CIDE DICTIONARY

precipice, n. [F. précipice, L. praecipitium, fr. praeceps, -cipitis, headlong; prae before + caput, capitis, the head. See Pre-, and Chief.].

•  A sudden or headlong fall.  Fuller.  [1913 Webster]
•  A headlong steep; a very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging place; an abrupt declivity; a cliff.  [1913 Webster]

  "Where wealth like fruit on precipices grew."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

precipice, n.
1 a vertical or steep face of a rock, cliff, mountain, etc.
2 a dangerous situation.

Etymology

F pr{eacute}cipice or L praecipitium falling headlong, precipice (as PRECIPITOUS)

THESAURUS

precipice

bluff, cliff, crag, crest, escarpment, face, hilltop, knoll, lofty peak, mountaintop, palisade, palisades, peak, pic, pico, pike, pinnacle, point, scar, scarp, spur, steep, summit, tor, wall

ROGET THESAURUS

precipice

Pitfall

N pitfall, rocks, reefs, coral reef, sunken rocks, snags, sands, quicksands, syrt, syrtis, Goodwin sands, sandy foundation, slippery ground, breakers, shoals, shallows, bank, shelf, flat, lee shore, ironbound coast, rock ahead, breakers ahead, precipice, maelstrom, volcano, ambush, pitfall, trapdoor, trap, sword of Damocles, wolf at the door, snake in the grass, death in the pot, latency, ugly customer, dangerous person, le chat qui dort, firebrand, hornet's nest, latet anquis in herba, proximus ardet Ucalegon.

Verticality

N verticality, erectness, perpendicularity, right angle, normal, azimuth circle, wall, precipice, cliff, elevation, erection, square, plumb line, plummet, vertical, upright, erect, perpendicular, plumb, normal, straight, bolt, upright, rampant, standing up, rectangular, orthogonal, vertically, up, on end, up on end, right on end, a plomb, endwise, one one's legs, at right angles.