Choss

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /t͡ʃɒs/

Definitions

1. A type of loose, unstable rock or debris that poses a danger to climbers in steep areas
2. Rock fragments that are unstable and easily broken, often found on slopes where they can create dangerous footing
3. Pieces of weak, friable stone that tend to break away easily, posing risks when traversed in elevated terrain

Etymology: "Choss" is a colloquial form of "chaos," so the loose, broken rock it names is an informal, climbers'-slang shortening of that older word. The clipping drops the vowel-heavy beginning and the final "-os" and leaves a short, blunt noun that sounds like the mess it describes. The sense is a useful transfer. "Chaos" comes from Greek "khaos," meaning a yawning void or gap, and English applied it to disorder long before anyone used it for a heap of shifting stones. Someone scrambling up a loose slope is literally standing in disorder, so the shortened form stuck to the landscape rather than to the abstract idea.