glissade
/ɡlɪˈsɑːd
/ /ɡlɪˈseɪd/noun
1A way of sliding down a steep slope of snow or ice, typically on the feet with the support of an ice axe.Once I had past the subsidiary top of Carn Dearg Meadhonach I took advantage of a long snow glissade down a shallow corrie that dropped me down into the glen....
- I managed a standing glissade almost all the way from the summit to the top of the north-facing Coire Dheirg.
- ‘I've got to go see them,’ Gary says, and glissades down a steep-sided bowl to the water.
2 Ballet A movement, typically used as a joining step, in which one leg is brushed outwards from the body, which then takes the weight while the second leg is brushed in to meet it.Transition steps, like a glissade or pas de bourrée, are often as important as pirouettes....
- Incorporating steps like glissades and pas de chats, I created a series of sword pas de deux, where the dancers move weapons instead of their feet.
- Frankly, I'm not built for glissades, arabesques, entrechats or mincing around en pointe.
verb [no object]
Slide down a steep slope of snow or ice with the support of an ice axe: we wobbled down the line of ascent, glissading when we could...
- Although it was possible that the boys had triggered the slide on their way down - perhaps by glissading down the slope - the avalanche had probably released on their way up.
- In spite of the somewhat slushy conditions, the pace was much quicker than on the way up, especially for those comrades who chose to thoroughly soak themselves by glissading all the way to the moraine.
- Rather than retreat the way I've come, I decide to continue east along a ridge to another Munro, eventually glissading down a scree gully to the valley bottom.
Origin
Mid 19th century: French, from glisser 'to slip, slide'.