A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words 975 entries

abseil

AB-zile
To descend a rock face by sliding down a fixed rope in a controlled manner, using friction to regulate speed. The technique was developed by Alpine climbers and remains the standard method for getting back down what you climbed up. You probably know it as rappel.
Etymology
German: abseilen, from ab (down) + Seil (rope). Literally ‘to rope down.‘