This word describes a steep, precipitous bank or cliff face—the kind of dangerous, overhanging slope where a misstep could mean a fatal fall. The Synoptic Gospels use it in their parallel accounts of Jesus exorcising the demons called 'Legion.' When the demons enter the herd of pigs, the animals rush down the steep bank into the sea and drown (Matthew 8:32, Mark 5:13, Luke 8:33). The geographical detail is significant: the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee features such steep cliffs descending to the water, lending vivid realism to this dramatic deliverance narrative.