Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To rend or tear apart.
  • intransitive verb To break into pieces, as by a blow; cleave or split asunder.
  • intransitive verb To break or distress (the spirit, for example).
  • intransitive verb To be or become split.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To split; cleave; rend asunder by force: as, to rive timber for rails, etc., with wedges; the oak is riven.
  • To cause to pierce; thrust.
  • To pierce; stab.
  • To explode; discharge.
  • Synonyms See rend.
  • To be split or rent asunder; fall apart.
  • An obsolete or dialectal form of rife.
  • noun Bank; shore.
  • noun A rake.
  • noun A place torn; a rent; a tear.
  • noun That which is torn, as with the teeth.
  • To land; arrive.
  • To go; travel.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To rend asunder by force; to split; to cleave.
  • noun Prov. Eng. A place torn; a rent; a rift.
  • intransitive verb To be split or rent asunder.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To tear apart by force; to split; to cleave.
  • verb transitive, archaic To pierce or cleave with a weapon.
  • verb intransitive To break apart; to split.
  • verb In woodworking, to use a technique of splitting or sawing wood radially from a log (e.g. clapboards).
  • noun A place torn; a rent; a rift.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
  • verb tear or be torn violently

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English riven, from Old Norse rīfa.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English riven ("to rive"), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse rīfa ("to rend, tear apart"), from Proto-Germanic *rīfanan (“to tear, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)reip- (“to crumble, tear”). Cognate with Danish rive ("to tear"), Old Frisian rīva ("to tear"), Old English ārǣfan ("to let loose, unwrap"), Old Norse ript (rift, "breach of contract"), Norwegian rive ("to tear") and Albanian rrip ("belt, rope"). More at rift.

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Examples

  • rive is a Situationist International concept that refers to walking aimlessly, following the smallest whim (never let it be said that you don’t learn anything here at Inhabitat).

    ENERGY HARVESTING SNEAKERS – Art students hack Heelys! | Inhabitat 2007

  • May 22nd, 2009 at 8: 35 am ‘We know where you rive, we know your famiry members, ’

    Threatening phone calls – in Mandarin 2009

  • Paris fashion "Saint Laurent: Rive Gauche" exhibits 70 ensembles in a venue remodeled to resemble the first Saint Laurent rive gauche boutique in 1966.

    What's on Around Europe 2011

  • WASA has begun a $2.6 billion project, the largest the authority has built, to reduce nitrogen and trash flowing to the rive r from its combined sewer overflow system, said George S. Hawkins, WASA general manager.

    Trash-free Anacostia? Christy Goodman 2010

  • When an army of corpses animated by cogwork rises from the dark waters of the rive Reine and threatens to upset the balance of power in Veridon, Jacob Burn must discover who is behind this undead atrocity before the city comes crashing down around him.

    Tim Akers Sequel and 'Heart of Veridon' review Jenni Hill 2010

  • When an army of corpses animated by cogwork rises from the dark waters of the rive Reine and threatens to upset the balance of power in Veridon, Jacob Burn must discover who is behind this undead atrocity before the city comes crashing down around him.

    Archive 2010-02-01 Jenni Hill 2010

  • I'm at my friend's parents 'home in Paris' rive gauche for their weekly Sunday dinner.

    Rosalia Gitau: T.I.A.: This Is Africa Rosalia Gitau 2010

  • To keep on the Paris analogy, Broadway in Kits, could remind me of Paris Bld St Germain, with which it shares the same width 26 to 30m, not because of the architecture but because of the fair “rive gauche” or gentrified bohemian feeling, provided by urban form, shop mix, restaurants style…:

    Olympic Line (short) closure notice « Stephen Rees's blog 2010

  • A separate statement Sunday said Crown Prince Sultan, the king ' s brother, was scheduled to ar rive back in Saudi Arabia Sunday evening.

    Saudi King to Seek Medical Care in U.S. Summer Said 2010

  • The net at me house is down because out firewall's hard rive died finally.

    June 30th, 2008 ceciliatan 2008

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