The act of forming or creating a steep slope or cliff-like formation, often as part of landscape or fortification design.
From the French 'escarper,' meaning to cut away steeply, derived from Italian 'scarpa' (slope). The term entered English in the 17th century through military and architectural usage.
Escarping is the geological and architectural term for what castles and trenches rely on—when you cut a steep face into earth or rock, invaders can't climb it easily. Nature does this too: the scarps around valleys are essentially Earth's way of 'escarping' over millions of years.
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