katabatic
nounEtymology Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek καταιβατός (kataibatós, “down-going, descending”), from κατα- (kata-, “down”) + βαίνω (baínō, “to go”).
1
Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of katabatic wind.
katabatic
adj/kæt.əˈbæt.ɪk/
Etymology Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek καταιβατός (kataibatós, “down-going, descending”), from κατα- (kata-, “down”) + βαίνω (baínō, “to go”).
1
Climatology, Meteorology, Natural sciences Of airflow Downslope on a mountainside.
- 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.2005, Nicholas Johnson, chapter 3, in Big Dead Place, →ISBN:
- 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.2006 February 24, Tishani Doshi, “Meanwhile: The long view from Antarctica”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 06 Apr 2023:
- Antonyms
- anabatic
- Derived terms
- katabatically, katabatic wind