rift

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“
Candy noted that the rift was as sudden as it was unexpected.

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Definitions (24)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun A narrow fissure in rock.
  2. noun A break in friendly relations: a rift between siblings.
  3. intransitive verb To split open; break.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (11)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

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Examples (50)

  • Spanish is somewhat different, for obvious reasons, but they often seem riven by the Peninsular vs. Latin American rift.
  • It was not difficult, for the rift was at this point only some fifteen feet deep and about a dozen across. —  The Lord of the Rings
  • Using a living branch to probe the rift was an insightful innovation The ensign flushed. —  J
  • Steve Harmison's ambivalent comments yesterday proved the rift was already having an affect on the England players, with the bowler admitting he would prefer a speedy resolution to the matter. —  Home | Mail Online
  • The letter seeks to heal the rift, which is fine assuming the other side is seeking reconciliation as opposed to revenge. —  Waldo's Virginia Political Blogroll
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This word has been looked up 151 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

fissure ·  chasm ·  gully ·  cleave ·  gash ·  gap ·  precipice ·  opening ·  crater ·  cleft ·  outcrop ·  crack

Used in the same contextWord Family

rift:   rifts
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (7)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English, of Scandinavian origin.
  2. Probably alteration of dialectal riff, reef, from Dutch rif, riffe; see reef1.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from Middle English rift, ryfte, from Danish rift = Norwegian rift, a rift, crevice, rent, = Icelandic ript, a breach of contract; with formative -t, from Danish rive = Norwegian riva, tear, rive: see rive.
  2. from rift, n.
  3. Middle English rift, from Anglo-Saxon rift, a veil, curtain, cloak. = Icelandic ript, ripti, a kind of cloth or linen jerkin.
  4. from Middle English riften, ryften, from Icelandic rypta, belch; cf. ropi, a belching, ropa, belch.
  5. Prob, an altered form, simulating rift, of riff: see riff, reef, n.
 

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/rɪft/
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