seracs

Noun

serac (plural seracs)

1. Often sérac: a hard, cone-shaped, pale green, strongly flavoured cheese from Switzerland made from skimmed cow milk and blue fenugreek (Trigonella caerulea); Schabziger, Sapsago. It is usually eaten grated, mixed with butter, or in a fondue.
   • The smoke found its way out of the holes in the roof as it liked best; and nearly over the fire was a black smoky shelf, supporting several masses of that inferior white cheese, called Serac.1826, The Museum of Foreign Literature and Science, volume IX, [Philadelphia, Pa.]: Published by E[liakim] Littell & T. Holden; New York, N.Y.: G. & C. & H. Carvill; Boston, Mass.: Kane & Co., →OCLC...
2. A sharp tower of ice formed by intersecting crevasses of a glacier.
   • Perhaps the finest part of it [the Lysjoch] is the grand sérac scenery of the Zwillinge Glacier. In August, 1876, a party of four, having missed the right track in crossing this pass when the snow was in very bad condition, were carried down in an avalanche of loose snow probably started by their...1838, A Hand-book for Travellers in Switzerland and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont: Including the Protestant Valleys of the Waldenses (Murray’s Handbooks for Travellers), London: John Murray...