accretionary wedge

accretionary prism

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noun

geology a body of deformed sediments, wedge-shaped in two dimensions or prism-shaped in three dimensions, that has been scraped off the surface of the oceanic lithosphere as it moves downwards beneath a continent or island arc. The sediments are added to the continental edge

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Words nearby accretionary wedge

accrescent, accrete, accretio cordis, accretion, accretionary growth, accretionary wedge, accretion disk, accretive, Accrington, accroach, accroides gum

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example sentences from the Web for accretionary wedge

The execution of two police officers in cold blood has shocked the city and driven a deeper wedge between the cops and the mayor.
Two Cops ‘Assassinated’ in Brooklyn|Michael Daly|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A decade ago, gays were a wedge issue used by Republicans to energize the base.
It Gets Better—but Mostly if You Live in a Rich, Democratic Country|Jay Michaelson|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In recent years there have been many issues driving a wedge between Riyadh and Washington.
Saudi Arabia’s Comic Book Fatwa|Christopher Dickey|March 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Bevin, along with state and national Democrats, delight in trying to drive a wedge between McConnell and Paul.
Can ‘the Traitor’ Jesse Benton Unite the GOP?|Sam Youngman|March 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Police squadrons had to form a “flying wedge” to break through the crowd to rescue blacks besieged in the park.
How We Built the Ghettos|Jamelle Bouie|March 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The individual prisms are usually slender, with one beveled, wedge-like end, but are sometimes needle-like.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
I dont think much of this jam pie, complained Chet, holding up a wedge that he had taken from his sisters basket.
The Girls of Central High on the Stage|Gertrude W. Morrison
It should be fixed in the head by means of a thin, barbed iron wedge.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
With the wedge Rose pried a floor-board out of its place, and made an opening large enough to let himself through.
Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes of the Civil War|Various
The gate was already opening, a wedge of the painted warriors heading through, flame-throwers ready.
Star Born|Andre Norton

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