Pronunciations (2)
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/ˈsiː ˌstæk/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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/ˈsi ˌstæk/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
Noun
A pillar of rock that rises from the ocean, formed by surrounding softer ground eroding away.
Usage- UK usage
- Synonyms
- Examples
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More examples (3)
The sea-gull sprang upwards from where he had floated on the ripple, and hied him slowly away to his lodge in his deep sea-stack; the dusky cormorant flitted past, with heavier and more frequent stroke, to his whitened shelf high on the precipice; [...]
That this defile may have been partly eroded by the action of the sea is also very probable; and there are certain isolated pinnacles and irregular columns of agglomerate in its immediate neighbourhood which have all the appearance of being old sea-stacks.
The sea, with its tremendous battering-power, is excavating caves, just as the streams make pot-holes; only the action is horizontal, rather than vertical, the water lashing like a whip around the flanks of the sea-stacks and islets.
At the foot of the cliffs are narrow boulder beaches and a few sea stacks.
More examples (4)
Off the shore of still another island they found a stand of sea stacks, weird towers of rock sculpted by sand and wind and engulfed in flocks of gulls and cormorants, and as they banked for another look, Kate saw three bald eagles take wing.
Lying off the north-west coast of the island is the Old Man of Hoy, the most famous sea stack in the world. At a height of 450ft it dominates the neighbouring cliffs of which it was once part.
A tall island in the sea, a geologic bone, the sea stack represents rock harder than what once surrounded it and has been eroded away. [...] The sea stack—which in desert country might be called a chimney, pinnacle, needle, knob, horn, or pillar—rises in the ocean, and is often favored by cormorants, puffins, and gulls for nesting and whitewashing with clamorous possession.
Some sea stacks are far off shore, while others like the one on the facing page, are in the tidal zone. Consider for a moment the contrasts the sea stack brings to the painting.