Adjacent Words

Rift definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RIFT, n. [from rive.] A cleft; a fissure; an opening made by riving or splitting.
RIFT, v.t. to cleave; to rive; to split; as, to rift an oak or a rock.
RIFT, v.i.
1. to burst open; to split.
Timber - not apt to rift with ordnance.
2. to belch; to break wind. [Local.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a gap between cloud masses; "the sun shone through a rift in the clouds"
2: a narrow fissure in rock
3: a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions); "they hoped to avoid a break in relations" [syn: rupture, breach, break, severance, rift, falling out]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish & Norwegian rift fissure, Old Norse r?fa to rive — more at rive Date: 14th century 1. a. fissure, crevasse b. fault 5 2. a clear space or interval 3. breach, estrangement II. verb Date: 14th century intransitive verb to burst open transitive verb 1. cleave, divide <hills were rifted by the earthquake> 2. penetrate

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a a crack or split in an object. b an opening in a cloud etc. 2 a cleft or fissure in earth or rock. 3 a disagreement; a breach in friendly relations. --v.tr. tear or burst apart. Phrases and idioms: rift-valley a steep-sided valley formed by subsidence of the earth's crust between nearly parallel faults. Derivatives: riftless adj. rifty adj. Etymology: ME, of Scand. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rift Rift, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rifted; p. pr. & vb. n. Rifting.] To cleave; to rive; to split; as, to rift an oak or a rock; to rift the clouds. --Longfellow. To dwell these rifted rocks between. --Wordsworth.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rift Rift, v. i. 1. To burst open; to split. --Shak. Timber . . . not apt to rif with ordnance. --Bacon. 2. To belch. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rift Rift, n. [Written also reft.] [Dan. rift, fr. rieve to rend. See Rive.] 1. An opening made by riving or splitting; a cleft; a fissure. --Spenser. 2. A shallow place in a stream; a ford.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rift Rift, obs. p. p. of Rive. --Spenser.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(rifts) 1. A rift between people or countries is a serious quarrel or disagreement that stops them having a good relationship. The interview reflected a growing rift between the President and the government... N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft adj N, N prep 2. A rift is a split that appears in something solid, especially in the ground. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Cleft, fissure, crack, rent, breach, fracture, break, gap, opening, chink, crevice, cranny, reft. II. v. a. Burst open, cleave, rive, split. III. v. n. Split, burst open.

Moby Thesaurus

abysm, abyss, alienation, arroyo, birthmark, blackhead, bleb, blemish, blister, box canyon, breach, breach of friendship, break, breakage, broach, bug, bulla, burst, canyon, catch, cavity, chap, chasm, check, chimney, chink, chinky, chip, cicatrix, cleavage, cleave, cleft, cleuch, clough, cloven, col, comedo, conflict, coulee, couloir, crack, cracked, cranny, crater, craze, crevasse, crevice, cut, cut open, cwm, defacement, defect, defection, deficiency, defile, deformation, deformity, dehiscent, dell, difference, dike, disaffection, disagreement, disfavor, disfiguration, disfigurement, dispart, disruption, distance, distortion, disunion, disunity, ditch, divaricate, divergence, divide, dividedness, division, donga, draw, drawback, estrangement, excavation, failing, failure, falling-out, fault, faute, fissure, fissured, fissury, flaw, flume, fly open, foible, fracture, frailty, freckle, furrow, gap, gape, gaping, gappy, gash, gorge, groove, gulch, gulf, gully, hemangioma, hiatus, hickey, hole, imperfection, inadequacy, incise, incision, infirmity, interruption, interval, joint, keloid, kink, kloof, lay open, leak, lentigo, little problem, milium, moat, mole, needle scar, nevus, notch, nullah, ope, open, open rupture, open up, opening, part, pass, passage, pimple, pit, pock, pockmark, port-wine mark, port-wine stain, problem, pustule, ravine, recall of ambassadors, rent, rime, rimose, rimulose, rip, rive, rupture, scab, scale, scar, schism, scissure, scratch, seam, sebaceous cyst, separate, separation, shortcoming, slash, slice, slit, slot, snag, something missing, splinter, split, spread, spread out, spring open, strawberry mark, sty, swing open, taint, tap, tear, tear open, throw open, track, trench, twist, valley, verruca, vesicle, void, vulnerable place, wadi, wale, warp, wart, weak link, weak point, weakness, weal, welt, wen, whitehead