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rift
rift / rift/ • n. a crack, split, or break in something: the wind had torn open a rift in the clouds. ∎ Geol. a major fault separating blocks of the earth's surface; a rift valley. ∎ fig. a serious break in friendly relations: their demise caused a rift between the city's town and gown. • v. [intr.] chiefly Geol. form fissures, cracks, or breaks, esp. through large-scale faulting; move apart: a fragment of continental crust that rifted away from eastern Australia | [as n.] (rifting) active rifting in southwestern Mexico. ∎ [tr.] [usu. as adj.] (rifted) tear or force (something) apart: the nascent rifted margins of the Red Sea. |
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"rift." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "rift." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-rift.html "rift." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-rift.html |
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rift
rift
1. A breach or split between two bodies that were once joined. See RIFT VALLEY. 2. In quarrying, a split in granite, whose plane is oblique or perpendicular to the sheeting. |
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Cite this article
AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "rift." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "rift." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-rift.html AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "rift." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-rift.html |
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rift
rift †rending, splitting XIII; cleft, fissure XIV. of Scand. orig. (cf. Norw., Da. rift cleft, chink); rel. to RIVE.
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T. F. HOAD. "rift." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "rift." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-rift.html T. F. HOAD. "rift." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-rift.html |
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rift
rift •Taft
•abaft, aft, craft, daft, draft, draught, engraft, graft, haft, kraft, raft, shaft, understaffed, unstaffed, waft
•backdraft • handcraft • aircraft
•stagecraft • spacecraft • statecraft
•needlecraft • priestcraft • witchcraft
•kingcraft • handicraft • woodcraft
•Wollstonecraft • bushcraft
•watercraft • hovercraft • crankshaft
•camshaft • layshaft • driveshaft
•turboshaft • countershaft
•bereft, cleft, deft, eft, heft, klepht, left, reft, theft, weft
•adrift, drift, gift, grift, lift, rift, shift, shrift, sift, squiffed, swift, thrift, uplift
•airlift, chairlift, stairlift
•facelift • skilift • shoplift • Festschrift
•spendthrift • spindrift • snowdrift
•makeshift • downshift • upshift
•aloft, croft, loft, oft, soft, toft
•hayloft • Ashcroft • Cockcroft
•undercroft • Lowestoft
•tuft, unstuffed
•Delft
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Cite this article
"rift." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "rift." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-rift.html "rift." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-rift.html |
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