katabatic
/kæt.əˈbæt.ɪk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.53 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Downslope on a mountainside.
noun
Example Sentences
- "At the field camp, paper-thin tents shudder beneath katabatic blasts of freezing wind, stoves sputter a stingy flame, and a few trudging specks haul shovels through a cold world where extra food and equipment cannot be bought at any price."
- "Penguin colonies that number in millions; nights that run into days, and days that run into nights; katabatic winds that scream down the ice sheets at a terrifying 180 miles per hour, and then remain equally terrifyingly still."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek καταιβατός (kataibatós, “down-going, descending”), from κατα- (kata-, “down”) + βαίνω (baínō, “to go”).