Crevices are small, usually narrow cracks or gaps in a surface. Crevasses are deep fissures. These words are not actually homophones—as crevice is pronounced KREV-iss, while crevasse is pronounced kruh-VOSS—but their similarity in sound and meaning makes them easy to confuse.
Comparing the two words’ synonyms may help. Synonyms of crevice include split, crack, rent, and cranny; synonyms of crevasse include abyss and chasm.
Examples
Once more an Alaskan snowmachine rider has plummeted into a glacier crevasse. [Alaska Dispatch]
There are crates and storage containers in every alcove and crevice of this basement, filled with miscellaneous mechanical parts. [Movie Hole]
All are found on limestone, but some appear on open scree, others in crevices while some crop up in coniferous woodland. [Telegraph]
The race, initially scheduled for last Thursday, was also delayed when a metre-wide crevasse formed in the makeshift runway at the North Pole. [Hamilton Spectator]
