See Also: rift(3)(dictionary)
rift(dictionary)
rift(1)(dictionary)
rift(2)(dictionary)
rift(4)(dictionary)
rift(5)(dictionary)
Rift (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
rift valley(dictionary)
Rift Valley(tourism)
rift valley(encyclopedia)

rift(1) (iou)



rift noun1. ME.
[Of Scandinavian origin (cf. Old Norse ript breach of contract, Norwegian, Danish rift cleft, chink): rel. to RIVE verb. Cf. RIFT verb1, REFT noun.]
An act of tearing or rending, a splitting. Only in ME.
A cleft or fissure in the earth, a rock, etc.; an opening or break in a cloud or mist; a crack or split in an object. LME.
G. Huntington Though the rain had been stopping..there was still no rift in the clouds. F. Hoyle The ice..sometimes cracks open, forming a narrow rift.
b. Quarrying. Any of a series of parallel planes along which (esp. igneous) rock may be split most easily, freq. distinct from the natural bedding planes; the property of rock capable of splitting in this way. Chiefly US. L19.
c. A large fault running parallel to the major regional relief, esp. one bounding a rift valley. Also, a rift valley. E20.
Oak timber split into strips or boards, rather than being sawn. Also rift timber. Now rare. L16.
A break in friendly relations between individuals, groups, nations, etc.; a division, a schism, a dissension. E17.
Jo Grimond The only way to heal the rift in industry was partnership between workers and management. F. Spalding The divergence of opinion inevitably created a rift between the sisters.
Comb.: rift block Geology a horst or a graben; rift-sawn adjective (of timber) sawn radially, across the annual rings; quarter-sawn; rift valley a large elongated valley with steep walls formed by the depression of a block of the earth's surface between nearly parallel faults or fault-zones (cf. GRABEN); Great Rift Valley, an extensive system of rift valleys running from the Jordan Valley through the Red Sea to E. Africa; Rift Valley fever, a disease of animals in E. Africa, caused by an arbovirus, which can affect humans as a mild fever.
riftless adjective L18.
rifty adjective having rifts, full of rifts or chinks M16.