berm

UK: /ˈbɜː^rm/ US: /bɝm/ ,(bûrm)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

berm /bɜrm/   n. [countable]

1. Geology, Geography a level strip of ground at the top of a slope.
2. the shoulder of a road.
3. a mound of snow or dirt:
   dug in inside their berms.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

berm  (bûrm), n. 

1. Also, berme. [Fort.] a horizontal surface between the exterior slope of a rampart and the moat.
2. Geology, Geography, Geology, Place Names Also called bench. any level strip of ground at the summit or sides, or along the base, of a slope.
3. Geology Also called backshore, beach berm. a nearly flat back portion of a beach, formed of material deposited by the action of the waves.
4. Dialect Terms [Chiefly Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.] the bank of a canal or the shoulder of a road.
5. Dialect Terms [Chiefly Alaska.] a mound of snow or dirt, as formed when clearing land.
6. Civil Engineering a bank of earth placed against an exterior wall or walls of a house or other building as protection against extremes of temperature.

v.t. 

7. Civil Engineering to cover or protect with a berm:
   The side walls were bermed to a height of three feet.

• Dutch berm; akin to brim¹
• French berme
• 1720–30

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

berm, berme / bɜːm/ noun

1. a narrow path or ledge at the edge of a slope, road, or canal
2. the grass verge of a suburban street, usually kept mown
3. a ridge of sand, designed as an obstacle to tanks, which, in crossing it, have to expose their vulnerable underparts

Etymology: 18th Century: from French berme, from Dutch berm, probably from Old Norse barmr brim