Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A long wavelike ridge of snow, formed by the wind and found on the polar plains.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of a series of long, wavelike
ridges orgrooves formed on asnow surface by thewind , especially inpolar plains .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Each of us took it in turn to run ahead, jumping from one sastruga to another.
The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Douglas Mawson 1920
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The sail was up and, while braking the load upwind, I slipped and fell, allowing the sledge to collide with a large sastruga.
The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Douglas Mawson 1920
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In the worst fogs at home one can at any rate see something of the ground on which one is treading; in Adelie Land, even when the air was clear of snow, it was easy to bump against a four-foot sastruga without seeing it.
The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Douglas Mawson 1920
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One walks into a deep trench or a sastruga two feet high without noticing it.
The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Douglas Mawson 1920
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As the sledge strikes each sastruga, it skids northwards along it to the discomfort of the wheelers and the disgust of the leader.
The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Douglas Mawson 1920
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In an individual case the windward end of a sastruga might be completely undercut for six or nine inches, leaving
The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Douglas Mawson 1920
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A fine example of a typical old sastruga was passed on the way.
The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Douglas Mawson 1920
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The sledge, for instance, balances itself on the top of a sastruga for a moment, with an ominous bend in the runners, crashes down the slope and jams its bow into the next one, from which it has to be lifted clear.
The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Douglas Mawson 1920
knitandpurl commented on the word sastruga
"On this second day, the going was getting somehow smoother, with less steering around and more sastruga snow."
Aurorarama by Jean-Christophe Valtat, p 262
July 24, 2011
qms commented on the word sastruga
From Caspian West to the Bering East
Are Russia’s glories much increased.
Caviar from the beluga!
Vodka chilled in sastruga!
The steppes supply an endless feast.
February 27, 2014
qms commented on the word sastruga
I find sources in agreement that this word is most often employed in the plural (sastrugi), which makes sense in practical application and is a blessing to the rhymer. Sources do not agree, however, on the sound of the penultimate syllable: is that "u" like the one heard in "thug" or is it the vowel in "dude?" In both printed phonetic representation and audible examples I find instances of each. I think a conscientious limericist can feel free to pick the more convenient of two offered pronunciations, but I have had the good fortune to stumble upon a pair of solutions.
I.
When the night is tropic and muggy,
The air full of odors and buggy,
I slap at the midges
And dream of cool ridges
That Siberians call sastrugi.
II.
When your truly obsessive foodie
Gets all restless and moody
She'll find diversion
In total immersion
In meringue folded up like sastrugi.
February 27, 2014
bilby commented on the word sastruga
Admit it, a job writing limericks about sastruga/i is your ultimate goal in life.
February 27, 2014
qms commented on the word sastruga
Can you suggest anyone who will pay me to do it?
February 28, 2014