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anticlinal

American  
[an-ti-klahyn-l] / ˌæn tɪˈklaɪn l /

adjective

  1. inclining in opposite directions from a central axis.

  2. Geology.

    1. inclining downward on both sides from a median line or axis, as a fold of rock strata.

    2. pertaining to such a fold.


anticlinal British  
/ ˌæntɪˈklaɪnəl /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or resembling an anticline

  2. botany of or relating to the plane at right angles to the surface of an organ

"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

Etymology

Origin of anticlinal

1825–35; < Greek antiklī́n ( ein ) to lean against each other ( anti- anti- + klī́nein to lean 1 ) + -al 1

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.

On entering the Alleghany Mountains, where the distinct anticlinal axes begin to show themselves, but before the dislocations are considerable, the volatile matter is generally in the proportion of eighteen or twenty per cent.

From The Student's Elements of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir

Where they dip away from the axis of movement the structure is termed an anticline or anticlinal fold; where they dip towards the axis, it is a syncline or synclinal fold.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

That these strata have also probably undergone an immense depression, that they are now inclined at high angles and form regular or complicated anticlinal lines.

From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1 by Darwin, Francis, Sir

It is not clear to the writer that the interior adjustment assumed under this hypothesis is necessarily slowed up or stopped by anticlinal buckling.

From The Economic Aspect of Geology by Leith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)

Subsequent movements produced in the Nova Scotia and the adjoining New Brunswick coal-fields the usual anticlinal and synclinal flexures.

From The Student's Elements of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir