Crossword clues for seiche
Wiktionary
n. (context hydrology English) A short-term standing wave oscillation of the water level in a lake, characteristic of its geometry.
WordNet
n. a wave on the surface of a lake or landlocked bay; caused by atmospheric or seismic disturbances
Wikipedia
A seiche is a standing wave in an enclosed or partially enclosed body of water. Seiches and seiche-related phenomena have been observed on lakes, reservoirs, swimming pools, bays, harbours and seas. The key requirement for formation of a seiche is that the body of water be at least partially bounded, allowing the formation of the standing wave.
The term was promoted by the Swiss hydrologist François-Alphonse Forel in 1890, who was the first to make scientific observations of the effect in Lake Geneva, Switzerland. The word originates in a Swiss French dialect word that means "to sway back and forth", which had apparently long been used in the region to describe oscillations in alpine lakes.
Usage examples of "seiche".
Arlette Davidson, solid southern woman, had given me a tagine, lovely Algerian stew with prunes in it, and here I got seiches, the white octopus which is so good with americaine sauce and rice.
Out over the pond a strange gloom had descended and the wide lawn slipped into the water as though it were flooding, not a cloud in the sky to fault for the sudden change in the light where the far bank was gone abruptly in a dull strip of grey and the middle distance seemed to advance and recede, the whole pond to heave as it ebbed from the foot of the lawn in a rising swell toward the other side like some grand seiche coming over it rocked by a catastrophe in the underworld, wavering as the swell returned, retreating in a massive unbroken rhythm like the tipping from side to side of a giant bowl as she clung with a hand to the sill swept by a wave of vertigo suddenly gathering her blouse to her throat to turn away gasping for breath in the cloud of smoke curling toward her from the fireplace.
Most important would be Chicago, or what was left of Chicago after the seiche in Lake Michigan had produced a tidal wave effect and destroyed much of the city proper.