Embacle
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:35 pm
After reading an old post suggesting debacle, I was struck by the "breaking up of ice in a river" part, so I dug deeper. It turns out there is a word that has the opposite meaning, embacle. It is the accumulation of ice in a river.
The Russians at times have to bomb their rivers in Spring, as the thaw starts in the South and the waters flow North. If the ice doesn't debacle in time, there is major flooding. I wonder why it doesn't seem to happen with the onset of Winter. Perhaps the rivers freeze up more slowly than they thaw out.
Aside: why "up" and "out?" Why not "in" and "down?" Or at least matched pairs?
The Russians at times have to bomb their rivers in Spring, as the thaw starts in the South and the waters flow North. If the ice doesn't debacle in time, there is major flooding. I wonder why it doesn't seem to happen with the onset of Winter. Perhaps the rivers freeze up more slowly than they thaw out.
Aside: why "up" and "out?" Why not "in" and "down?" Or at least matched pairs?