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:
Pilots have compared landing on the short runway, with either side plunging straight down off the side of a vertical cliff, to landing on an aircraft carrier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
But as Freddie points out to her students, that cliff has always been there.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026
Who’s really throwing cancer patients off a cliff?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
The recently released footage shows a helicopter hovering mere feet from a cliff face in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the US state of California while a rescue team secures an injured climber.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
I slipped down off the rocks, onto the bare ground of the cliff where Sean was waiting, the rope curled around his shoulder.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
“I still have anxieties, but tending to the aging animals keeps me from obsessing over things that don’t matter. My pony, Cliff, is 38. Every day I have with him is a gift. It’s grounding.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
Resilience training: Perkins and her co-founders, including her now-husband Cliff Obrecht, envisioned turning Fusion Books into a design tool anyone could use.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The car drove off a cliff on West Cliff Drive near Steamer Lane, a popular spot for local surfers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
When officers arrived, they discovered the crash as well as a large fire that was "getting out of control very quickly", Bell County Sheriff's Office spokesman Cliff Coleman said.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
The cottage and lighthouses were situated on a flat stretch of land between the fashionable Cliff and the Bathing Beach.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
The park service said earthquakes during the 2018 Kīlauea volcano eruption and summit collapse had damaged the cliffs near the arch.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Tom Cruise has dangled from cliffs, skyscrapers and planes, but oil magnate Digger Rockwell is his riskiest role in eons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026
I’m at a point in my own life where much of my time is consumed by this very thought, facing forks in the road that feel more like cliffs.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
The site includes a central uplift as well as high cliffs displaying columnar jointing.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
Since I’m without a flashlight, Farmer and Ti Jean decide to take a different route than the way we came—one without rivers to cross and steep cliffs to scramble down.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
