rift

American  

[rift] / rɪft /

noun

1. an opening made by splitting, cleaving, etc.; fissure; cleft; chink.

2. an open space, as in a forest or cloud mass, or a clear interval.

3. a break in friendly relations.

   a rift between two people; a rift between two nations.

   Synonyms:

   falling-out, estrangement, rupture, breach

4. a difference in opinion, belief, or interest that causes such a break in friendly relations.

5. Geology.

   1. a fault.

   2. a graben of regional extent.

6. the plane or direction along which a log or mass of granite can most easily be split.

7. wood or a piece of wood that has been split radially from a log.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to burst open; split.

rift ¹ British  

/ rɪft /

noun

1. a gap or space made by cleaving or splitting; fissure

2. geology a long narrow zone of faulting resulting from tensional stress in the earth's crust

3. a gap between two cloud masses; break or chink

   he saw the sun through a rift in the clouds

4. a break in friendly relations between people, nations, etc

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verb

1. to burst or cause to burst open; split

rift ² British  

/ rɪft /

noun

1. a shallow or rocky part in a stream

2. the backwash from a wave that has just broken

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rift Scientific  

/ rĭft /

1. A continental rift.

2. A narrow break, crack, or other opening in a rock, usually made by cracking or splitting.

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Other Word Forms

• riftless adjective
• unrifted adjective

Etymology

Origin of rift

1250–1300; Middle English < Old Norse ript breaking of an agreement (compare Danish, Norwegian rift cleavage), derivative of rīfa to tear (cognate with rive )

Example Sentences

To help families avoid a rift, I reached out to Joshua Coleman, a psychologist and senior fellow at the Council on Contemporary Families and an expert on how to avoid and repair estrangements.

From The Wall Street Journal

Singer Marc Anthony has described the Beckham family rift as "extremely unfortunate", but added that the way it has played out is "hardly the truth".

From BBC

The rift has plunged the historically tense relationship to its lowest point in more than a decade.

From BBC

Beijing and Tokyo are in the middle of a diplomatic rift, and the historically tense relationship has hit its lowest point in more than a decade.

From BBC

Other analysts say any potential policy rift between Zhang and Xi might have been over how to man, train and equip the military.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• breach
• clash
• disagreement
• division
• estrangement
• misunderstanding
• quarrel
• rupture
• schism
• split