rift valley

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noun Geology.

a subsea chasm extending along the crest of a mid-ocean ridge, locus of the magma upwellings that accompany seafloor spreading.

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Origin of rift valley

First recorded in 1890–95

Words nearby rift valley

riflescope, rifling, rift, rift saw, rift-sawed, rift valley, Rift Valley fever, rift zone, rig, Riga, rigadoon

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

How to use rift valley in a sentence

But the people from Valley Stream had such a thick New York accent that was all around me.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The region is marketed for visitors as “Aryan Valley,” and many citizens have taken to tacking on “Aryan” to their last names.
The Himalayas’ Hidden Aryans|Nina Strochlic|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Her mother made demands about a big ceremony and caused a rift between them.
A Sunni-Shia Love Story Imperiled by al Qaeda|Ruth Michaelson|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The rift put Washington at odds with countries like Brazil, Uruguay or Chile, which seemed to have come to terms with their past.
Venezuela Says Goodbye to Its Lil Friend, While the Rest of the Continent Cheers|Catalina Lobo-Guererro|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Time was suspended as the world watched and waited for news about the young, brave girl from the Swat Valley.
Promoting Girls’ Education Isn’t Enough: Malala Can Do More|Paula Kweskin|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
San Antonio de Bexar lies in a fertile and well-irrigated valley, stretching westward from the river Salado.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
When it cleared, the valley was a solid expanse of white, and the stars shone out as if in an Arctic sky.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
At the foot of the pass, the valley widened a little, though still with steep, snow-capped cliffs crowding it on either side.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
It was a sad day for Ramona and Alessandro when the kindly Hyers pulled up their tent-stakes and left the valley.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
For an Indian to sell a horse and wagon in the San Jacinto valley was not an easy thing, unless he would give them away.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson

British Dictionary definitions for rift valley

rift valley

noun

a long narrow valley resulting from the subsidence of land between two parallel faults, often associated with volcanism. The East African Rift Valley is an example

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 rift valley

rift valley

A long, narrow valley lying between two normal geologic faults. Rift valleys usually form where the Earth's lithosphere has become thin through extension associated with plate-tectonic processes. Unlike river valleys and glacial valleys that form primarily through erosional processes, rift valleys form by the subsidence of the intermediate land as the faults are pulled apart. They are on the order of thousands of kilometers long and wide. See more at normal fault.

The deep undersea valley located along the center of the mid-ocean ridge. It is associated with the crustal thinning and extensional forces that cause magma to upwell onto the ocean floor.