overthrust

[ oh-ver-thruhst ]

nounGeology.
  1. a thrust fault with a low dip and a large slip.

  2. a thrust fault in which the hanging wall was the one that moved (opposed to underthrust).

Origin of overthrust

1
First recorded in 1880–85; over- + thrust

Words Nearby overthrust

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

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
  1. geology a reverse fault in which the rocks on the upper surface of a fault plane have moved over the rocks on the lower surface: Compare 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