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

How to use accretionary wedge in a sentence

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