rift

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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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