cliff
noun
a high steep face of a rock.
cliff
1 American
[klif]
/ klɪf /
noun
cliffs
plural
-
a high steep face of a rock.
- Synonyms:
- crag, ledge, promontory, bluff
-
a critical point or situation beyond which something bad or undesirable may occur.
The committee is right up to the cliff with no deal in sight.
Cliff
2
American
[klif]
/ klɪf /
noun
cliff
British
/ klɪf /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cliff
before 900; Middle English clif, Old English, cognate with Dutch, Low German, Old Norse klif
Explanation
A cliff is a steep and often sheer rock face. If you stand on the edge of a cliff and peer over, you'll be able to see the waves crashing on the rocks below. But if you don't watch your step, you could fall right off that cliff. So many action movies feature a scene in which a car chase leads to a car full of villains plunging spectacularly off a steep rock wall, or cliff. As the car hurtles over the edge of the cliff and smashes onto the rocks below, it invariably explodes in a shower of flames and a cloud of smoke.
Vocabulary lists containing cliff
Physical Geography - Introductory
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Physical Geography - Middle School
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Physical Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Novartis is navigating what executives have called the worst patent cliff in the company’s history, with heart-failure drug Entresto, platelet-booster Promacta and leukemia treatment Tasigna all facing competition from generic products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
“It’s great that the state is invested in this issue, and they invested in one of the best coastal cliff experts that we have,” Barnard said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
And so the adventure begins, taking one assured step forward, right off a cliff.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
"That matters because oil was not just trading war risk. It was trading the possibility that reserve drawdowns and blocked Gulf flows would create an energy cliff."
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Soon a fire was roaring at the top of the cliff, and they stood back to admire it.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
His abstract painting "Doll Boy" -- a reference to his crush on the pop singer Cliff Richard -- caught the eye of the art dealer John Kasmin, who bought it for £40.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
“Cedar Cliff is a Mediterranean villa of unrivaled pedigree and commanding presence,” the description goes on.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
He stayed in a West Cliff guest house, gazing, as everyone must do, across the harbor where the remains of the 13th century Whitby Abbey dominate the East Cliff.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
Cliff, 64, points out that moving to outer suburbs, saving every dollar – and not going on "expensive overseas holidays" - was how they could afford their first home.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
“We’ve thrown stuff off the Cliff before,” Minho said.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
Speaking to Lucy Owen on BBC Radio Wales, Peston said his wife "loved everything Welsh", including the coastline, and the couple enjoyed taking "endless walks along the cliffs" together.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
Adalberto Maypora, a well-known character around town, inspects his fishing boat on a deserted beach nestled between cliffs.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
Maybe you had high hopes, only to watch them crash against the sky-high cliffs of calcified Television Academy voters’ habits.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
California purchased the swath of rocky cliffs and windswept shoreline in the 1960s to expand the construction of Highway 1 and create a scenic viewpoint for highway travelers, according to a California Coastal Commission report.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
We reached the top of the cliffs with the rain on our heads.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
