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
Theoretically, a Caltech student may ar rive at all the wrong answers on exams, and still get passing marks if his professor believes that his thinking is sound.
From Time Magazine Archive
The murmur increased to an even groan of terror, and here and there, as some more acutely realized the desperate straits, frantic screams would rive through the drone of misery.
From Saul of Tarsus A Tale of the Early Christians by Miller, Elizabeth
He was rived by bitterness and profound envy toward the rich.
From New York Times ● Dec. 30, 2020
But a story rived by cover-ups and uncertainty is only further muddled by meditations on the uncertain nature of storytelling.
From New York Times ● Sep. 1, 2020
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
Finally the swift pulsation of engines at high pressure rived the night.
From Dan Merrithew by McFall, J. V.
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
Homelessness has been a vexing problem throughout American history, an issue riven by disagreements among policymakers and legislators over how best to help people in need of shelter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
“I actually have some thoughts,” she said when asked by a reporter how she felt about representing the U.S. at a time when the country is riven by deep political divides.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2026
The Southeast Asian nation of some 50 million is riven by civil war and there will be no voting in rebel-held areas.
From Barron's ● Dec. 27, 2025
While some areas and some periods of time may have enjoyed peace and tranquillity, others were riven by ferocious conflicts.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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
Craig DuMez Brookfield, Wis. As an American riving in Brazil, I felt great pride as I listened to Mondale's concession speech.
From Time Magazine Archive
Also in the interior were 100 Russian trucks, and Soviet "technicians" were ar riving almost daily from the north.
From Time Magazine Archive
How to make a riving and a new life?
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.
