rive
Americanverb (used with object)
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to tear or rend apart.
to rive meat from a bone.
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to separate by striking; split; cleave.
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to rend, harrow, or distress (the feelings, heart, etc.).
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to split (wood) radially from a log.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to split asunder
a tree riven by lightning
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to tear apart
riven to shreds
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archaic to break (the heart) or (of the heart) to be broken
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rive
1225–75; Middle English riven < Old Norse rīfa to tear, split. See rift
Vocabulary lists containing rive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Though she did not hang out with the bohemians and intellectuals of the rive gauche, there was nevertheless something about her persona that chimed with the romantic existentialism of the time.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 29, 2018
You never put your foot in the same rive twice.
From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2017
“Per le spiagge, per le rive di Trieste,” he began, singing the opening lines of “The Bells of Saint Giusto,” a patriotic World War I paean to Italy’s victory against—and Trieste’s independence from—Austria-Hungary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2015
And they gathered in pity and fear, for they faced a problem that might rive their church to its foundations.
From Time Magazine Archive
Winds from our side the unsuiting consort rive.
From The Message by Brock, H. M. (Henry Matthew)
The battle that Gil cannot leave behind is the war that rived his nation.
From Washington Post ● May 11, 2018
The academy has been rived by the accusations.
From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2018
In a country rived by tribal rivalries, Kenyatta, 55, has the support of many Kikuyus and Kalenjins, while Odinga, 72, is strong among the Luos, Luhyas and Kambas.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 7, 2017
As “Henry IV” begins, his anxiety has been borne out, with the country again rived by conflict.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2016
The thought of Caleb Peevy rived into his muddled, benumbed mind.
From The Red Debt Echoes from Kentucky by MacDonald, Everett
One of those strengths is a mental fortitude that comes with representing a country that is riven by crisis and humanitarian disaster.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
A former ambassador to Washington and independent politician, 76-year-old Karam is known for his defence of Lebanese unity in a country riven by sectarian divisions.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
Such policies have manifested differently across China, with harsher tactics applied in areas seen as riven with separatist sentiment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
Small towns were riven between people calling themselves Patriots and British Loyalists.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2025
Trembling, Matthias took refuge in an old beech trunk that had once been riven by lightning.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
However, the game turned on its head in dramatic fashion when Charteris was sent to the sin-bin for stopping a riving maul illegally.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2014
By the government's admission, the new budget is expected to produce a 7% drop in the standard of riving over the next year.
From Time Magazine Archive
An unsuccessful mail plane was Martin's only non-military venture lately until this year when Pan American Airways submitted specifications for a huge riving boat of long cruising range for oceanic service.
From Time Magazine Archive
Their two daughters are riving on the West Coast, and their son David, 18, is attending Auburn University in Alabama.
From Time Magazine Archive
Starting in fall 1793, British troops began ar- riving in Saint Domingue to reenslave people and return them to their sugar plantations.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
