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Scree

Geology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A slope of loose broken stones at the base of a cliff. It suggests instability, descent, and the aftermath of fracture.

Detailed Definition
Scree is a mass of loose rock fragments that gathers beneath cliffs or steep slopes as weathering, frost, and gravity break stone away from the face above. Unlike a stable path, it shifts beneath each step and makes ascent or descent uncertain. In poetry, scree can become the unstable ground after a collapse, the accumulated debris of old arguments, or the difficult terrain between loss and safety. Every stone implies a larger wall that has been breaking apart.
Example
Example in poetry:
Loose scree slid beneath the climber’s feet, making each upward step uncertain; A poet can use scree as an image of unstable language, where every word shifts under pressure; The mountain’s scree slope whispered with falling stones after the heat of noon; In a love poem, “our promises were scree” suggests a relationship built on unstable ground
Additional Notes
Scree forms as weathering loosens rock from cliffs. Its shifting stones make a strong image for uncertain footing, accumulated ruin, or difficult descent.
Other Meanings of “Scree”
Also Known As
Talus Talus Slope
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