anticline

American  

[an-ti-klahyn] / ˈæn tɪˌklaɪn /

noun

Geology.

1. an anticlinal rock structure.

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anticline British  

/ ˈæntɪˌklaɪn /

noun

1. a formation of stratified rock raised up, by folding, into a broad arch so that the strata slope down on both sides from a common crest Compare syncline

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anticline Scientific  

/ ăn′tĭ-klīn′ /

1. A fold of rock layers that slope downward on both sides of a common crest. Anticlines form when rocks are compressed by plate-tectonic forces. They can be as small as a hill or as large as a mountain range.

2. Compare syncline

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Etymology

Origin of anticline

First recorded in 1860–65; back formation from anticlinal

Compare meaning

How does anticline compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• anticline vs. syncline

Example Sentences

The harsh, high-desert anticline is almost as big as Delaware and home to such wildness and alien-looking geology that the Mars Society has built a Mars Desert Research Station there.

From Washington Post • Sep. 16, 2022

Not surprisingly, the long anticline of Simon’s post-“Graceland” career is the dullest part of the book.

From Washington Post • Oct. 27, 2016

If we know that the folded beds have not been overturned, then we can use the more specific terms: anticline and syncline.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

You’re looking at an anticline, actually, when you view Rosario Head.

From Scientific American • Mar. 7, 2012

They are conformably succeeded by the Old Red Sandstone which extends westwards as far as Cowbridge as a deeply eroded anticline largely concealed by Trias and Lias.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 1 "Gichtel, Johann" to "Glory" by Various