anvil

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anvil
1. The name commonly applied to the tops of those cumulonimbus clouds that spread in the vicinity of the tropopause into a characteristic anvil-like shape with fibrous edges. The rising column of air in the cumulonimbus cloud is checked by the stable stratification of the air above the tropopause.

2. A flat-topped stone against which a bird smashes the shell of a snail in order to eat the soft parts of its prey.

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