cluse

noun

1. A defile or narrow gorge, especially one that cuts transversely through the rock of an otherwise continuous ridge.

   “[...] others are bounded by the steep walls of the cluses, these being the most picturesque; others, again, occupy the combes referred to above.”

   “Penck states that many a cluse in the Jura may have been formed by subterranean streams widening their channels until the covering broke down and their subterranean valleys became exposed[…]”

   “[…] narrow cluses still exist. The distinctive nature of the geomorphic forms of the Jura is indicated by the fact that each such item is identified locally by a particular term.”

   “[…] cut by the wadis of the Atlas which gave birth to very steep cluses (Lechhab 1991).”