rift

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Related to rift: rift valley

rift¹

(rĭft)

1. A fissure, crack, or opening, as in rock.

2. A break in friendly relations: a rift between siblings.

3. Geology An area where the lithosphere is thinning, typically associated with large faults and grabens.

v. rift·ed, rift·ing, rifts

v.intr.

To split open; break.

v.tr.

To cause to split open or break.

[Middle English, of Scandinavian origin.]

rift²

(rĭft)

1. A shallow area in a waterway.

2. The backwash of a wave that has broken upon a beach.

[Probably alteration of dialectal riff, reef, from Dutch rif, riffe; see reef¹.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

rift

(rɪft)

1. a gap or space made by cleaving or splitting; fissure

2. (Geological Science) geology a long narrow zone of faulting resulting from tensional stress in the earth's crust

3. a gap between two cloud masses; break or chink: he saw the sun through a rift in the clouds.

4. a break in friendly relations between people, nations, etc

to burst or cause to burst open; split

[C13: from Old Norse; related to Danish rift cleft, Icelandic ript breach of contract]

rift

(rɪft)

1. (Physical Geography) a shallow or rocky part in a stream

2. (Physical Geography) the backwash from a wave that has just broken

[C14: from Old Norse rypta; related to Icelandic ropa to belch]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rift

(rɪft)

n.

1. a fissure; cleft.

2. an open space or clear interval.

3. a break in friendly relations.

4. a cause of a break in friendly relations.

5. Geol. a fault.

v.t., v.i.

6. to burst open; split.

[1250–1300; Middle English < Old Norse ript breaking of an agreement (compare Dan, Norwegian rift cleavage)]

rift

(rĭft)

1. A fault along the border of a rift valley.

2. A narrow break, crack, or other opening in a rock, usually made by cracking or splitting.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

rift

Past participle: rifted
Gerund: rifting

Imperative
rift
rift

Present
I rift
you rift
he/she/it rifts
we rift
you rift
they rift

Preterite
I rifted
you rifted
he/she/it rifted
we rifted
you rifted
they rifted

Present Continuous
I am rifting
you are rifting
he/she/it is rifting
we are rifting
you are rifting
they are rifting

Present Perfect
I have rifted
you have rifted
he/she/it has rifted
we have rifted
you have rifted
they have rifted

Past Continuous
I was rifting
you were rifting
he/she/it was rifting
we were rifting
you were rifting
they were rifting

Past Perfect
I had rifted
you had rifted
he/she/it had rifted
we had rifted
you had rifted
they had rifted

Future
I will rift
you will rift
he/she/it will rift
we will rift
you will rift
they will rift

Future Perfect
I will have rifted
you will have rifted
he/she/it will have rifted
we will have rifted
you will have rifted
they will have rifted

Future Continuous
I will be rifting
you will be rifting
he/she/it will be rifting
we will be rifting
you will be rifting
they will be rifting

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been rifting
you have been rifting
he/she/it has been rifting
we have been rifting
you have been rifting
they have been rifting

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been rifting
you will have been rifting
he/she/it will have been rifting
we will have been rifting
you will have been rifting
they will have been rifting

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been rifting
you had been rifting
he/she/it had been rifting
we had been rifting
you had been rifting
they had been rifting

Conditional
I would rift
you would rift
he/she/it would rift
we would rift
you would rift
they would rift

Past Conditional
I would have rifted
you would have rifted
he/she/it would have rifted
we would have rifted
you would have rifted
they would have rifted

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	rift - a gap between cloud masses; "the sun shone through a rift in the clouds" opening, gap - an open or empty space in or between things; "there was a small opening between the trees"; "the explosion made a gap in the wall"
	2.	rift - a narrow fissure in rock crack, scissure, cleft, crevice, fissure - a long narrow opening
	3.	rift - a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions); "they hoped to avoid a break in relations" falling out, severance, rupture, breach, break schism - the formal separation of a church into two churches or the withdrawal of one group over doctrinal differences breakup, separation, detachment - coming apart

rift

noun

1. breach, difference, division, split, separation, falling out (informal), disagreement, quarrel, alienation, schism, estrangement They hope to heal the rift with their father.

2. split, opening, space, crack, gap, break, fault, breach, fracture, flaw, cleavage, cleft, chink, crevice, fissure, cranny In the open bog are many rifts and potholes.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

rift

noun

1. A usually narrow partial opening caused by splitting and rupture:

break, chink, cleavage, cleft, crack, crevice, fissure, split.

2. An interruption in friendly relations:

alienation, breach, break, disaffection, estrangement, fissure, rent, rupture, schism, split.

verb

To crack or split into two or more fragments by means of or as a result of force, a blow, or strain:

break, fracture, rive, shatter, shiver, smash, splinter, sunder.

Translations

تَصَدُّعشِق

prasklinarozportrhlina

kløftuoverensstemmelse

Bruch Meinungsverschiedenheit Scharte Spalte

ρήγμα

dorsale fissure rift

törés

ósætti, sundrungsprunga, skora

spaccatura squarcio

nesaskaņasplaisasprauga

рифт

anlaşmazlık çatlaksürtüşmeyarık

不和分裂裂缝

rift

[rɪft] N

1. (= fissure) → grieta f, fisura f; (in clouds) → claro m

2. (fig) → ruptura f, desavenencia f; (in relations etc) → grieta f; (in political party) → escisión f, cisma m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

rift

[ˈrɪft] n

(in ground, rock) → fente f

(= disagreement) → désaccord m (= serious division) → dissension f
the rift between the government and the trade unions → le désaccord entre le gouvernement et les syndicats
the rifts within the country → les dissensions au sein du pays

rift

→ Spalt m

(fig: in friendship) → Riss m; (Pol) → Spalt m, → Riss m

rift

rift saw

n (Tech) → Gattersäge f

rift valley

n → Grabenbruch m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

rift

[rɪft] n (in family, between friends) → incrinatura (Pol) (in party) → spaccatura; (in rock, ground) → crepa, fessura; (in clouds) → squarcio

rift

(rift) noun

1. a split or crack.

2. a disagreement between friends.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Now we had come to a spot where there is a great rift of black rock, and the name of that rift is U'Donga-lu-ka- Tatiyana.

View in context

East and West and North and South, Wash thy hide and close thy mouth.(Pit and rift and blue pool-brim, Middle-Jungle follow him!) Wood and Water, Wind and Tree, Jungle-Favour go with thee!

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Clambering here and there among the boulders they kept steadily on, gradually rising higher and higher until finally they came to a great rift in a part of the mountain, where the rock seemed to have split in two and left high walls on either side.

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Suddenly the moon burst through a rift in the clouds and, himself in the shadow of a group of great oaks, the horseman saw the footman clearly, in a patch of white light.

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The heavens opened, and across the blue rift it hung in a glory of celestial fire, while from behind and above the clouds came a warbling as of innumerable larks.

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He had come upon the rift at almost the exact spot at which he had clambered from it weeks before, and there he saw, just as he had left it, just, doubtless, as it had lain for centuries, the mighty skeleton and its mighty armor.

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The youth, peering once through a sud- den rift in a cloud, saw a brown mass of troops, interwoven and magnified until they appeared to be thousands.

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But this enabled them to proceed steadily until they came to a landing where there was a rift in the side of the mountain that let in both light and air.

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Through a rift in the mist, he caught a glimpse of the brown sail of a fishing-boat, dangerously near the land.

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Overhead, as he looked up through this rift in the wood, shone great golden stars looking unfamiliar and grouped in strange constellations.

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It was then that Juag called my attention to the rift in the shore-line which I had thought either a bay or the mouth of a great river.

View in context

In imagination he dared to think of her lips on his, and so vividly did he imagine that he went dizzy at the thought and seemed to rift through clouds of rose-petals, filling his brain with their perfume.

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