cliff
noun
a high steep face of a rock.
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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:
The conservationists had scramble from the water up a cliff face in the dark to find cracks in the rocks where the snails could be safely left.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Novartis is navigating what executives have called the worst patent cliff in the company’s history, with heart-failure drug Entresto, platelet-booster Promacta and leukemia treatment Tasigna all facing competition from generic products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
But when it comes to predicting cliff collapses along California’s iconic shoreline, the science has been infamously tricky to pin down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
And so the adventure begins, taking one assured step forward, right off a cliff.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
We clear a rise in the rock, pull up over a cliff, and it’s worse than I feared: my coyote is in the middle of the path, lying on her side, panting.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
At the entrance, travelers will encounter a pair of 16-foot-tall sculptures, “The Two Electras,” by Cliff Garten; inside, a ceiling grid artwork by Glenn Kaino.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
West Suffolk Council leader Cliff Waterman, a Labour member, said he hoped the vote would give him a "strong hand" when speaking to the government.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
His abstract painting "Doll Boy" -- a reference to his crush on the pop singer Cliff Richard -- caught the eye of the art dealer John Kasmin, who bought it for £40.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
“Cedar Cliff is a Mediterranean villa of unrivaled pedigree and commanding presence,” the description goes on.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
We stood in silence as Cliff kicked at the dirt with his toe.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
But lately, a different demographic has flocked to its limestone cliffs: office workers from China’s big cities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Adalberto Maypora, a well-known character around town, inspects his fishing boat on a deserted beach nestled between cliffs.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
Crumbling cliffs loom over more than 530 miles of the California coast, and the cost of establishing a statewide sensor network would be significant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Maybe you had high hopes, only to watch them crash against the sky-high cliffs of calcified Television Academy voters’ habits.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
I shaded my eyes and looked across the valley to see the cliffs in the distance and the tree that sheltered Patrick’s Well.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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.
