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fault line

See more synonyms for fault line on Thesaurus.com
noun Geology.
  1. the intersection of a fault with the surface of the earth or other plane of reference.
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Origin of fault line

First recorded in 1865–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

riftbreakcrackfaultfracturesplit

Examples from the Web for fault line

Historical Examples

  • There is, moreover, evidence of actual compression of the earth's crust at right angles to the fault-line.

    A Study of Recent Earthquakes

    Charles Davison

British Dictionary definitions for fault line

fault line

noun
  1. Also called: fault plane geology the surface of a fault fracture along which the rocks have been displaced
  2. a potentially disruptive division or area of contentionEurope remains the main fault line in the Tory Party
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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