Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A loose deposit of rock debris accumulated through the action of gravity at the base of a cliff or slope.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun geology A loose accumulation of rock and soil debris at the foot of a slope

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, a collection of washings, dregs, from colluere, to wash thoroughly : com-, intensive pref.; see com– + -luere, to wash; see leu(ə)- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • This technique has potential in highly permeable debris materials, such as colluvium with a low proportion of fines.

    2.1 Retaining walls 1999

  • I looked again at the distant nest, then noticed that on the debris pile of colluvium below and a little to the west of the nest there were two elk.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • We scratched around but did not find any bison remains in the colluvium pile below, and the seemingly carefully placed stones at the front of the shallow cave were only natural rockfall from the ceiling.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • We scratched around but did not find any bison remains in the colluvium pile below, and the seemingly carefully placed stones at the front of the shallow cave were only natural rockfall from the ceiling.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • Here the cliff was a series of shelves separated by steep colluvium deposits.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • Here the cliff was a series of shelves separated by steep colluvium deposits.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • We scratched around but did not find any bison remains in the colluvium pile below, and the seemingly carefully placed stones at the front of the shallow cave were only natural rockfall from the ceiling.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • The first coyote returned with two friends and all three began to tug the carcass toward the edge of the colluvium pile, a drop-off of about ten feet.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • The first coyote returned with two friends and all three began to tug the carcass toward the edge of the colluvium pile, a drop-off of about ten feet.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • I looked again at the distant nest, then noticed that on the debris pile of colluvium below and a little to the west of the nest there were two elk.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

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