horst

[ hawrst ]

noun
  1. a portion of the earth's crust, bounded on at least two sides by faults, that has risen in relation to adjacent portions.

Origin of horst

1
1890–95; <German: “heap, cluster,” from Middle High German, Old High German hurst “thicket”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use horst in a sentence

  • Such areas have been named by Suess ‘Horsts,’ a term which it may be useful to adopt, as we have no English equivalent.

    The Spell of Switzerland | Nathan Haskell Dole

British Dictionary definitions for horst

horst

/ (hɔːst) /


noun
  1. a ridge of land that has been forced upwards between two parallel faults

Origin of horst

1
C20: from German: thicket

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

Scientific definitions for horst

horst

[ hôrst ]


  1. A usually elongated block of rock that is bounded by parallel geologic faults along its two longest sides and has a higher elevation than the rock at its sides. Horsts form where rock is being compressed by tectonic forces.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.