katabatic

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek καταιβατός (kataibatós, down-going, descending), from κατα- (kata-, down) + βαίνω (baínō, to go).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /kæt.əˈbæt.ɪk/
  • Rhymes: -ætɪk
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

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katabatic (not comparable)

  1. (meteorology, of airflow) Downslope on a mountainside.
    • 2005, Nicholas Johnson, chapter 3, in Big Dead Place, →ISBN:
      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.
    • 2006 February 24, Tishani Doshi, “Meanwhile: The long view from Antarctica”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
      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.

Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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katabatic (plural katabatics)

  1. Short for katabatic wind.

Further reading

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