Word.ws English Dictionary

abseil

/ˈæb.seɪl/US/ˈæb.seɪl/

abseil verb: to descend a steep or vertical drop using a rope with a mechanical friction device or (classic abseil) by wrapping the rope around the body.

Verb

abseil (third-person singular simple present abseils, present participle abseiling, simple past and past participle abseiled)

  1. (intransitive) To descend a steep or vertical drop using a rope with a mechanical friction device or (classic abseil) by wrapping the rope around the body.
    • Although only five miles north of Winchester, the tunnel is in a rural location with no road access. Contractors were only able to reach the site after cutting through thick vegetation and abseiling down the slope on ropes.2020 September 9, Paul Clifton, “Heavy rainfall causes landslip in Hampshire”, in Rail, page 11
    Synonyms:
    rappel

Noun

abseil (plural abseils)

  1. A descent in mountaineering using a rope looped at the top and a friction device.
    Synonyms:
    rappel

abseil meaning in Malay

abseil in Malay

to descend a vertical drop using a rope
menakik turun
a descent by abseil
takik turun, turun cenuram

Synonyms of abseil

Forms of abseil

Verb
third-person singular presentabseils
present participleabseiling
past participleabseiled
pastabseiled
Noun
pluralabseils

Origin of abseil

From German abseilen, from ab- (“down”) + Seil (“rope”).

Words formed from abseil

Questions about abseil

What does abseil mean?
Abseil means to descend a steep or vertical drop using a rope with a mechanical friction device or (classic abseil) by wrapping the rope around the body.
What is abseil in Malay?
Abseil in Malay is menakik turun, takik turun, turun cenuram. See Abseil meaning in Malay.
What part of speech is abseil?
Abseil can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce abseil?
Abseil is pronounced /ˈæb.seɪl/ (UK).
What is the past tense of abseil?
The past tense of abseil is abseiled.

Words near abseil in the dictionary

  1. abscotchalaters
  2. ABSD
  3. ABSDs
  4. Absecon
  5. Absecon Island
  6. abseil
  7. abseiled
  8. abseiler
  9. abseilers
  10. abseiling
  11. abseilings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: abseil (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-abseil.wav.

Cite this entry: “abseil.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/abseil. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.