pingo

Syllables: pin·go/ˈpɪŋɡəʊ/US/ˈpɪŋɡoʊ/

pingo noun: a conical mound of earth with an ice core caused by permafrost uplift, particularly if lasting more than a year.

Image: Emma Pike, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

pingo (plural pingoes or pingos)

A conical mound of earth with an ice core caused by permafrost uplift, particularly if lasting more than a year.
- The greatest variation in cover thickness, as determined from collapsed pingos, is in irregularly shaped pingos, or those with asymmetrically located ice-cores.1963, J[ohn] Ross Mackay, The Mackenzie Delta Area, N.W.T. (Memoir (Geographical Branch, Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, Canada); 8), Ottawa, Ont.: Department of Mines and Technical...
- Considerable progress has been made on the discovery and mapping of many open system pingos in central Alaska and Yukon Territory[…], as well as the discovery of pingo-like mounds in the shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea north of the mouth of the Mackenzie River. The greatest advance in pingo...1973, Roger J. E. Brown, Troy L. Péwé, “Distribution of Permafrost in North America and Its Relationship to the Environment: A Review, 1963–1973: 13–28 July 1973, Yakutsk, U.S.S.R.”, in Permafrost...
Synonyms:

hydrolaccolith

Noun (2)

pingo (plural pingoes or pingos)

(Sri-Lanka, dated) A flexible pole supported on one shoulder, with a load suspended from each end.
- This done, he [an elephant] took up the pingo and moved away from the spot; but at the distance of about a fathom or two, laid it down again, and ripping open one of the bundles, took out of it all the contents, somans [footnote: Woman's robe], cambāyas [footnote: The figured cloth worn by men]...1861, J[ames] Emerson Tennent, “Appendix to Chapter III. Narratives of the Natives of Ceylon Relative to Encounters with Rogue Elephants.”, in Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon with...
- The Gańga-vaṇṣa minissu are the washers of the Oliya caste, who are not only a low caste, but come below the Paduvó and Berawáyó, and are the only caste who will carry the pingoes of the smiths.1887, S. M. Burrows, “A Year’s Work at Polonnáruwa”, in Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, volume X, number 34, Colombo, Ceylon: G. J. A. Skeen, government printer, Ceylon...
Synonyms:

carrying pole, milkmaid's yoke, shoulder pole
(Sri-Lanka, dated) A measure of weight equivalent to that which can be carried using a pingo, perhaps about 55 pounds (25 kilograms) (see the 2013 quotation).
- Upon reaching this quantity, the tribute decreased one pingo annually until the number was reduced to five.1833, “The Chaliah Caste in Ceylon”, in The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, page 275
- About an hour or so before a bridegroom accompanied by his friends arrives at the house of the bride, a person, named for the occasion Gamana or messenger, is sent forward with a number of betel leaves equal to the number of people, who accompany the bridegroom. The Gamana is to give these betel...1866, Dandris De Silva Goonaratne, “On Demonology and Witchcraft in Ceylon”, in Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Colombo, Ceylon: F. Fonseka, printer, Fort, Colombo, →ISSN...
Synonyms:

picul

pingo meaning in Hindi

pingo in Hindi

conical mound of earth with an ice core: पिंगो piṅgo

Examples of pingo in a sentence

The greatest advance in pingo research in the last decade has been a consideration and understanding of theory and rate of pingo growth […]1973, Roger J. E. Brown, Troy L. Péwé, “Distribution of Permafrost in North America and Its Relationship to the Environment: A Review...
With the exception of small pingos, most pingo ice cores have several ice types.1983, J[ohn] Ross Mackay, “Oxygen Isotope Variations in Permafrost, Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula Area, Northwest Territories”, in Current Research...
Larger scale frost-heave features, such as pingoes, are rare because there is insufficient water available, generally, for the growth of large ice bodies.1987, I. B. Campbell, G. G. C. Claridge, Antarctica: Soils, Weathering Processes and Environment (Developments in Soil Science; 16)...
He did the same with all the other pingoes.1861, J[ames] Emerson Tennent, “Appendix to Chapter III. Narratives of the Natives of Ceylon Relative to Encounters with Rogue Elephants.”...

Synonyms of pingo

All synonyms of pingo

Forms of pingo

plural	pingoes
plural	pingos

Origin of pingo

From Greenlandic pingu or Inuktitut pingu (“hummock, small hill”).

Apparently from Sinhalese [Term?] (?), but the word has not yet been identified.

Words that rhyme with pingo

Questions about pingo

What does pingo mean?: Pingo means a conical mound of earth with an ice core caused by permafrost uplift, particularly if lasting more than a year.
What is pingo in Hindi?: Pingo in Hindi is पिंगो (piṅgo). See Pingo meaning in Hindi.
How do you use pingo in a sentence?: The greatest advance in pingo research in the last decade has been a consideration and understanding of theory and rate of pingo growth […]
What part of speech is pingo?: Pingo is a noun.
How do you pronounce pingo?: Pingo is pronounced /ˈpɪŋɡəʊ/ (UK).
What is the plural of pingo?: The plural of pingo is pingoes.

Words near pingo in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: pingo (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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

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