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hanging wall

noun
  1. Mining. the underside of the wall rock overlying a vein or bed of ore.Compare footwall(def 1).
  2. Geology. a mass of rock overhanging a fault plane.
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Origin of hanging wall

First recorded in 1770–80
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hanging wall

Historical Examples

  • The two fault faces are known as the “hanging-wall” and the “foot-wall.”

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2

    Various

British Dictionary definitions for hanging wall

hanging wall

noun
  1. the rocks on the upper side of an inclined fault plane or mineral veinCompare footwall
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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
hanging wall in Science

hanging wall

  1. The block of rock lying above an inclined geologic fault plane. See more at fault. Compare footwall.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.