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
Every year a new Maid of Orleans is elected from les damoiselles de la rive gauche, and she is the figurehead of the Saint Germain Fair.
From Time Magazine Archive
If he misliked any work that a man had done, with his own great hands he’d rive it out, and tear it down before us all.
From Rewards and Fairies by Kipling, Rudyard
Negotiations between the two sides have been rived with mistrust for months, with both sides pointing fingers over the escalating tensions.
From New York Times ● Jun. 4, 2019
The episodic narrative tracks Gloria over a period rived by minor as well as life-altering change.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2019
The battle that Gil cannot leave behind is the war that rived his nation.
From Washington Post ● May 11, 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
Dey wus rived out of blocks of trees about 3-6 and 8ft in length.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, North Carolina Narratives, Part 1 by Various
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
Long before Nancy's arrival, the club was riven with disharmony.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025
Spending cuts are even more difficult than in Britain—where welfare cuts have proved to be a political nonstarter—and securing a budget at all in a deeply riven French Parliament is a challenge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
Small towns were riven between people calling themselves Patriots and British Loyalists.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2025
“I don’t think I made any mistake in deciding on riven oak,” he told them.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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
Their two daughters are riving on the West Coast, and their son David, 18, is attending Auburn University in Alabama.
From Time Magazine Archive
How to make a riving and a new life?
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
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.
