Dictionary.com

overthrust

[ oh-ver-thruhst ]
/ ˈoʊ vərˌθrʌst /
Save This Word!

noun Geology.
a thrust fault with a low dip and a large slip.
a thrust fault in which the hanging wall was the one that moved (opposed to underthrust).
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

Origin of overthrust

First recorded in 1880–85; over- + thrust
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use overthrust in a sentence

  • They call the eastern edge of this range the Lewis overthrust, because thats where the overlapping stopped.

    Boy Scouts in Glacier Park|Walter Prichard Eaton
  • This cliff under usit must be three thousand feet down to the shale slidewas the front edge of the overthrust.

    Boy Scouts in Glacier Park|Walter Prichard Eaton
  • Of course I am here taking the record just as I find it, as I have already discussed this matter of "overthrust folds."

    Illogical Geology|George McCready Price

British Dictionary definitions for overthrust

overthrust
/ (ˈəʊvəˌθrʌst) /

noun
geology a reverse fault in which the rocks on the upper surface of a fault plane have moved over the rocks on the lower surfaceCompare underthrust
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
FEEDBACK