escarpment

e•scarp•ment (ih-SKAHRP-muhnt)  n

Definition:
1. a steep slope or long cliff that results from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations
2. a steep slope in front of a fortification

Origin:
1802, from Fr. escarpment, from escarper "make into a steep slope," from escarpe "slope," from It. scarpa

Related:
Synonyms: slope, cliff, hill, ledge, ridge, bluff, precipice
Related Words: scarp, escarp

Sentence Examples:
• How good it was! There, within his sight, was the great escarpment of rock known as the Devil's Ledge, and away to the east was the black spot in the combe known as the Cave of Mary. Still farther away, towards the south, was the great cattle-pasture, where, as he looked, a thousand cattle roamed. -No Defense, Gilbert Parker

• I dived close to the cliffs and skirted them for several miles without finding the least indication of a suitable landing-place; and then I swung back at a lower level, looking for a clearing close to the bottom of the mighty escarpment; but I could find none of sufficient area to insure safety. I was flying pretty low by this time, not only looking for landing places but watching the myriad life beneath me. -The People that Time Forgot, Edgar Rice Burroughs

• At each end of the Cotswold range, as seen from Evesham, stands, sentinel like, an isolated elevation, and in early times, as present remains testify, both these were occupied as fortified posts. To the east is Meon Hill, and to the south-west stands Bredon, the nearest and most prominent of the group. In the south-east the position of Broadway is decisively marked by its pseudo-Norman tower, and due south the level outline ended by an abrupt escarpment to the eastward is Cleeve Cloud, carrying the range on towards Cheltenham and Bristol. -Evesham, Edmund H. New

The Storyline
Whatever it was, she couldn't fight the feeling that she about to thrown of a steep escarpment.

Sources: Free Dictionary, Online Etymology

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