| 释义 |
cliffn. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Middle Dutch klif , klef , clif steep slope of a hill or mountain, steep, high rock face on the coast (Dutch klif ), Old Saxon klif rock face (Middle Low German klif ), Old High German kleb rock face, ridge, promontory (compare German Kliff , probably a borrowing from English), Old Icelandic klif rock face, steep slope, protruding isolated rock, probably < the Germanic base of cleave v.2 Compare clift n., cleeve n., cleo n.Further etymology. Although phonologically unproblematic, development from the base of cleave v.2 (which appears originally to have had the sense ‘to cling, stick’) is not semantically straightforward; for a possible connection in sense compare use of that verb in sense ‘to climb’ in several of the Germanic languages. Derivation from the base of cleave v.1 has alternatively been suggested for semantic reasons, but is unlikely on phonological grounds. Form history. In Old English usually a strong neuter (a -stem) clif ; an isolated example of weak inflection is apparently attested in (dative) clifan at α. forms. The β. forms continue Old English inflected forms (as e.g. genitive singular clifes ) in which the inherited voiced fricative was preserved intervocalically, despite being spelt f (compare early Old English clibecti , form of clifiht cliffy, steep); in word-final position in Old English (i.e. in uninflected forms) the fricative was devoiced (compare α. forms). In Old English forms of the plural, the back vowel of the inflectional ending caused back mutation of short i to io (later eo ); compare nominative and accusative plural cleofu , dative plural cleofum , preserved in verse and in sources showing Mercian influence (in West Saxon, forms without mutation were usually levelled throughout the paradigm). For Middle English forms showing the reflex of forms with back mutation see cleeve n. Compare also clift n., apparently reflecting association of the present word with cleft n. (compare early forms in i and y at that entry). Specific senses. In sense 3a associated in the Middle English period with classical Latin clīvus slope, hill (see clivose adj.), which is etymologically unrelated. Although now obsolete, this sense is reflected in the name of Lincoln Cliff (also referred to locally as the cliff ), an escarpment of oolite in Lincolnshire running from Grantham to the Humber estuary, also known as Lincoln Edge. Compare:1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh II. 165 Brackenthwaite Hall stood in a singularly sequestered spot, near the base of the cliff line of hills.2014 Lincolnshire Life (Electronic ed.) Sept. (heading) Take a view from the Cliff. The villages that lie on the Lincoln Cliff—or the Lincoln Edge as it is sometimes known—may seem sleepy, rural areas from the outside. Place-name evidence. In place names, applied to relatively steep or striking slopes of various kinds, including high riverbanks, inland escarpments, rock outcrops, and rock faces. For a full study of names containing this word in their geographical contexts, see M. Gelling & A. Cole Landscape of Place-names (2000) 153–7, and see further Vocab. Eng. Place-names at clif. It has been suggested that early toponymic use in sense 3 is especially characteristic of the Thames Valley area; perhaps compare later regional use of cleeve n. 2. 1. the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > cliff > [noun] OE (1992) x. 209 Swa bið eac gelic be ðam hean clifum [c1175 Bodl. 343 clifæs] & torrum, þonne hie feorran ofer ða oðre eorþan hlifiað, & hie þonne semninga feallan onginnaþ & ful heardlice hrioseð to foldan. OE Wærferð tr. Gregory (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iii. xvi. 213 Þæt he mihte of ðam munte alucan þæt hreosende clif [L. ruituram rupem]. c1390 MS Vernon Homilies in (1877) 57 262 (MED) In þis wast was a gret Clyf, þat was ful heih, brod, and stif. a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) cxiii. 8 in C. Horstmann (1896) II. 248 Kliffes [L. rupem] in welles ofe watres to gane. c1440 (?a1400) l. 2013 He hade..forsett..Bothe the clewez and þe clyfez with clene mene of armez. c1460 (a1325) (Laud) l. 17590 Hym to seche in clyffe & clow. ?1521 A. Barclay sig. Cvv A mountayne, of highnes marueylous With pendant clyffes, of stones harde as flent. 1598 J. Florio Bricche, crags, cliffs, or brackes in hills. 1639 J. Taylor 14 The Castle stands on the top of a Hill, and under it is a Cliff or Riffe in the said Hill. 1667 J. Milton vii. 424 There the Eagle and the Stork On Cliffs and Cedar tops thir Eyries build. View more context for this quotation 1737 S. Shuckford III. x. 72 Horeb and Sinai were..only different Cliffs of one and the same mountain. 1789 H. L. Piozzi I. 38 Goats..clamber among the cliffs of Plinlimmon. 1837 VII. 12 Cheddar Cliffs are the sides of a chasm, extending across one of the highest ridges of the Mendip Hills. 1878 R. B. Smith 148 Above the precipitous cliffs that underpinned the mountain was a broad plateau. 1935 L. V. Jacks iv. 64 At the base of this peninsula huge mountains called ‘pali’ fence it across cliffs of more than twenty-five hundred feet sheer fall. 1991 Apr. 24/1 The rugged Mount Adams Wilderness offers the quintessential Cascades combination of lava cliffs, cinder cones, glaciers, meadows, moraines, and waterfalls. 2009 9 Apr. 39/1 He skied off a 600-metre cliff on the Sass Pordoi mountain in the Italian Dolomites. the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > cleaving or splitting > [noun] > a division formed by cleaving α. OE (1932) 310 Hu gewearð þe þæs, wine leofesta, ðæt ðu sæbeorgas secan woldes, merestreama gemet, maðmum bedæled, ofer cald cleofu ceoles neosan? OE Ælfric Homily (Cambr. Ii.4.6) in J. C. Pope (1967) I. 362 Gregorius wolde Gode aræran halig mynsterlif gehende anre ea; ac þær wæs to gehende swiðe heah clif onemn. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) l. 964 Nu & æuer-mare haueð þat clif [c1300 Otho clef] þare nome on ælche leode. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 11 Whan schipmen passiþ þe next clif of þat lond. c1400 (?c1380) l. 159 (MED) I seȝ byȝonde þat myry mere A crystal clyffe ful relusaunt. 1548 W. Turner sig. C.vv Sampere..groweth much in rockes & cliffes beside Douer. 1605 R. Verstegan iv. 99 The cut-of or broken mountaines on the sea sydes are more rightly and properly called clifs, then by the name of rocks or hilles. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. ii. 101 As farre as I could ken thy Chalky Cliffes, When from thy Shore, the Tempest beate vs backe. View more context for this quotation 1695 P. Hume i. 19 The Earth, Sand and Cliffs of divers Islands in this Sea, being of a Reddish Colour, give by Reflection a foil to its Waters. 1727 J. Thomson 50 Island of Bliss!..all Assaults Baffling, like thy hoar Cliffs the loud Sea-Wave. 1793 W. Wordsworth 204 The wood-crowned cliffs that o'er the lake recline. 1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton I. i. iii. 18 The rude steps that wound down the cliff to the smooth sea-sands. 1879 J. A. Froude xvi. 263 The white cliffs which could be seen from Calais. 1924 C. Mackenzie i. 11 He..sat for awhile on the sweet short grass of Pendhu cliffs, contemplating the peacock sea below. 1973 D. Andersen i. 48 Here in the upper ramparts there were steep cliffs and mountains rising on each side of the river. 2007 18 June 15/2 Coastguards have issued warnings about the dangerous craze for ‘tombstoning’—jumping off cliffs into the sea. the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > [noun] the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > cliff > [noun] > sea-cliff eOE tr. Orosius (BL Add.) (1980) i. i. 11 Nilus seo ea hire æwielme is neh þæm clife [L. de litore] þære Readan Sæs. c1330 (?c1300) (Auch.) 1790 Hii come to þe cliue, Þar þe wilde se was. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 45 From þe clyue of occean [L. littore oceani] in Ethiopia. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xv. clxxi. 822 Wynlandia is a cuntrey bisides þe mounteyns of Norwey towarde þe eeste, an streccheþ vppon þe cliff of Occean. c1425 J. Lydgate (Augustus A.iv) iv. l. 3939 (MED) Þei hem dryve to þe silfe stronde, Doun to þe clyf of þe salt se. 1495 (de Worde) vii. lxvi. sig. siiv/1 The venym of theym [sc. snakes] that abyde in hylles & woodes is worse than of theym whyche ben nyghe clyffes & bankes of waters. 1600 C. Tourneur Author to Bk. sig. A2v O were thy margents, cliffes of itching lust. 3. the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > slope > [noun] > steep OE (1992) i. 203 Þa æfter þam ahengon hie hine on þam clife þe hie heton Golgoðða. lOE Bounds (Sawyer 312) in J. M. Kemble (1847) V. 105 Of Wulfheres cumbe on Wulfheres clif, of Wulfheres clife on ða furh. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris (1873) 2nd Ser. 37 Hwile uppen cliues and hwile in þe dales. c1250 ( Bounds (Sawyer 492) in W. de G. Birch (1887) II. 522 Þonne andlang þære dic oþ þæs clifes norþ hyldan. ?c1250 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Egerton) 347 in R. Morris (1868) 1st Ser. 181 To-ȝeanes þe cliue aȝean þe heȝe hulle. c1400 (?a1300) (Laud) (1952) 5420 Þe oþere part away hij dryuen Jn to dales and in to clyuen. (Harl. 221) 81 Clyffe or an hylle [1499 Pynson clefe of an hyll], declivum. 1632 R. Le Grys tr. Velleius Paterculus 66 Running downe the cliffe of the Capitoll. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > golf course > [noun] > hazards > face of bunker 1890 H. G. Hutchinson in H. G. Hutchinson et al. (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) iv. 146 The nearer the ball lies to the cliff of the bunker, the farther behind the ball must the niblick-head dig down into the ground. 1904 21 Oct. 4/2 To get over the bunker's cliff. 1922 22 May 10/2 There are precipitous bunker cliffs, high sandhills full of traps—a challenge to the player through the entire..course. 1987 22 Aug. iii. 24/1 Fairway bunkers with eroded cliffs around the edges. Phrases1977 4 Feb. 1/3 Unless Americans buckle down to real energy conservation..the U.S. could ‘fall off the cliff’ with an overall energy shortage. 1989 E. Innes & L. Southwick-Trask 200 Never before in Canadian corporate or financial life had so many companies gone off the cliff at the same time, including the Depression. 1996 Mar. 39/1 Support for the Democrats fell off a cliff, careening 20 points downwards to just 37 percent. 1998 23 Sept. 33/1 The chart here shows how ICI shares have plunged off the cliff. 2014 D. Kass 432 Despite a widespread belief that housing activity will fall off the cliff, the rise in home prices..continues apace. Compounds C1. a. General attributive. 1899 18 Feb. 262/1 Cliff-bastions gray, With rock-piled forts,..storm the skies. 1930 J. Huxley ii. 31 Our goal was the cliff-bastion at the north end of Prince Charles's Foreland. 2007 G. McDonald xix. 459 There came to be three rings of battlements around the city, including the cliff bastions. 1836 C. F. Partington II. 451/2 The falcon is a mountaineer, not exactly a cliff bird like the golden eagle. 1940 R. Perry i. 29 The naturalist inland..comes only to the coast for the summer nesting of the cliff-birds. 1956 D. A. Bannerman V. 31 Ussher went so far as to state that in Ireland no great cliff-bird colony seems to be complete without its pair of falcons. 2011 (Nexis) 5 Mar. (Travel section) 7 Its dramatic golden beaches..boast some of the greatest concentrations of nesting cliff birds in the world. 1809 23 Nov. 3/4 The railing..suddenly gave way with him, and in a backward position, threw him from the height of the cliff edge to the shelving midway projection, and from thence to the beach below. 1903 R. Kipling 70 The wise turf cloaks the white cliff edge. 2005 (Nexis) 4 Jan. 13 The daring mission saw coastguard members dangling over the cliff edge at Port Mulgrave. 1828 Sept. 305/2 The female Sparrowhawk..comes tumbling, and dashing, and rattling through the dwarf bushes on the cliff-face. 1931 14 Mar. p. i/2 Large boulders and tons of earth fell from the cliff-face near Plymouth Hoe. 2011 J. Buchan ix. 174 In extreme cases, dead ships can be battered by strong winds against cliff faces. 1872 15 Aug. 1/2 We..soon came in sight of the first cliff house. 1910 VI. 507/1 Two special sorts of cliff-dwellings are distinguished by archaeologists, (1) the cliff-house, which is actually built on levels in the cliff, and (2) the cavate house, which is dug out, by using natural recesses or openings. 2001 Mar. 35/2 This secluded 1920s guest house is surrounded by the ancient cliff houses of the Mogollon Indians. 1843 R. H. Horne i. iii. 30 Oft to some highest peak would he ascend..And oft, upon some green cliff ledge reclined. 1920 56 168 To cross from one valley to the next one had to climb a succession of cliff ledges. 2009 T. Dee 2 There are clouds of birds;..A line of guillemots rising to a cliff ledge. 1839 8 Jan. 36 A line further inland would be more desirable than the cliff line. 1920 26 Aug. 8/1 The cliff line along the sea's edge is unbroken. 2010 D. N. Dreese 32 While learning how to respect wildlife and dispose of wastes properly, participants see rugged cliff lines. 1827 T. H. Williams 14 The Valley of Stones is about a quarter of a mile from the west of the inn; make the circuit of it by going through the old road, and returning by the cliff path. 1932 A. Christie ii. 34 There's a scrambly cliff path down to the sea. 2004 J. Mansell ix. 48 Maybe after lunch he'd..walk the cliff path and admire the spectacular scenery. 1948 R. S. Fitter in Jan. 7/2 I have not myself seen a cliff roost, but I have observed them [sc. starlings] roosting on the ruins of both Lindisfarne and Whitby Abbeys. 1972 84 506 In the southwest cliff roosts are more common. 2011 18 98 We excluded cliff roosts from statistical analyses of day-roosting habitat. 1602 R. Carew i. f. 32v A Balker, or Huer,..standeth on the Cliffe side, and from thence, best discerneth the quantitie and course of the Pilcherd. 1720 I. 328/2 The Country-People..attend with Horses and Panniers at the Cliff-side in great Numbers. 1852 M. Arnold ii. 431 On the cliff-side the pigeons. 1926 11 July 36/3 It was necessary to blast out a way at the cliffside. 2013 Aug. 102/1 The vertiginous cliffsides of the Santa Monica Mountains. a1798 T. Browne (1800) 59 On the cliff top so high. 1852 M. Arnold ii. 429 On the sward at the cliff-top. 1916 E. Blunden 30 Go, cast it from the cliff-top while dawn stirs. 1959 8 July 3/4 The fire brigade's cliff rescue unit threw a rope to the boy from the cliff top. 2005 K. Jamie 9 A pair of ravens..seemed to follow me along the clifftop. 1834 Jan. 17 From its cliff-walls, to the east, a wide extent of the ocean. 1855 M. Arnold 82 Through the cliff-wall, and a fresh stream runs down. 1931 26 Nov. 13/6 The cliff wall..falls in precipices into the sea. 2003 (Nexis) 27 Aug. 10 Sheer cliff walls rise hundreds of metres from the water. 1777 T. Warton 68 A cliff-encircled lawn. 1785 T. Dwight iii. 59 The cliff-topp'd mountain. 1819 Ld. Byron cviii. 173 Before the entrance of a cliff-worn cave. 1845 P. J. Bailey (ed. 2) 359 A cliff-chafed sea. 1859 D. Masson i. 28 Dashing the eternal monotone of her many voices against a cliff-embattled shore. 1869 J. Phillips viii. 203 Cliff-girdled lakes. 1885 W. B. Yeats in May Here is the place, the cliff-encircled wood. 1900 4 Aug. 2/3 Stand firm upon thy cliff-girt coast. 1901 R. Kipling xiii. 328 Unheralded cliff-lurking flaws. 1919 W. de la Mare 33 On the cliff-ringed shore. 1927 R. Kipling 729 The cliff-walled defiles. 1939 W. B. Yeats 18 In some cliff-sheltered bay. 2004 (Nexis) 31 Dec. 9 (caption) Military pilots struggled to drop food into cliff-rimmed villages along the ravaged coast of Sumatra. c. Locative. See also cliff dwelling n. and adj. at Compounds 2. ?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer iv. 809 Fitter far to feed a cliff-bred goat [Gk. αἰγίβοτος]. 1883 7 Apr. 6/5 No doubt there are some few cliff-bred blue rocks still remaining. 1923 28 June 3/2 Disaster had befallen the attackers; the cliff-bred men had driven them mercilessly back into the sea. 1900 June 503/2 We possess photographs of the nests of such inaccessible cliff breeders as ravens, falcons, and eagles. 1938 32 213 The Herring-Gull, usually a marine cliff-breeder. 2007 B. Shorrocks v. 203 The other two Gyps species..are both colonial cliff breeders. 1875 3 442 It [sc. the Long-billed Brown Vulture] is the pale cliff breeding western species. 1949 6 Aug. 196/1 How did the nestlings of cliff-breeding sea-birds get down to the sea, when the time came for them to fledge? 2002 29 1051/2 Modern recreational activities in remote craggy locations..may also disturb cliff-breeding habits. 1922 2 16 The cliff-nesters find their favorite sites available in June. 1953 B. Campbell x. 157 Old nests of various other cliff-nesters. 2015 N. Maclean xi. 171 Almost all of these birds are cliff nesters. 1889 M. Reid 31 This cliff-nesting of the Stock [dove], observed by country people, would very naturally lead to their giving it the name ‘Rocky’. 1891 15 108 The Cormorant and other cliff-nesting birds. 1954 D. A. Bannerman III. 387 Cliff-nesting is by no means restricted to Britain. 1992 Jan. 35/3 The cliff-nesting northern gannets. 2001 103 794/1 Cliff-nesting does not necessarily protect birds from avian predation. d. Objective. 1835 18 July 545/3 They were learned in a far different lore; in the ways and means of coming at the retreats of terns, smews, choughs, and their airy and cliff-haunting fellows. 1903 R. Kipling 2 Unheralded cliff-haunting flaws. 1966 26 Nov. 10/3 A sea cave, shared with the cliff-haunting pigeons and known to fishermen as the Pigeon Hole. 1831 Aug. 146 By her steps there walk'd the gallant boy Call'd the Cliff-Climber, for his passion was To be with the young eagles in the clouds. 1967 J. Updike in (2009) 9 Feb. 72/1 Pointing my eyes ahead.., feeling like a cliff-climber whose companion has panicked on the sheerest part of the face. 2011 (Nexis) 21 May 22 Burnham-On-Sea coastguards sent a cliff climber down the rocks to rescue her. 1847 I. 264/1 We do not by any means recommend any one not well used to mountain or cliff climbing to test [the effect]. 1913 22 222 It was here [on the coast of Waterford] he gave the Keartons their first lessons in cliff-climbing. 2014 (Nexis) 24 Sept. 11 In the Royal Marines we used to do cliff climbing, which I didn't like. C2. the world > plants > particular plants > ferns > [noun] > other ferns 1867 A. Gray (ed. 5) 659 Pellæa, Cliff-brake ..P. atropurpurea..[grows on] dry calcareous rocks. 1941 R. S. Walker 56 Purple cliffbreak finds congenial homes in the limestone ledges. 2010 D. F. Austin 233/2 Spiny Cliff Brake is a mountain species. 1922 16 Aug. 1/2 Cliff dive (height 30½ feet). 1958 28 Apr. 5/6 (headline) Car's cliff dive fatal to driver. 1991 M. L. Settle ii. 24 I made my first cliff dive in water so pure that ever since I have been spoiled for diving other places. 2002 J. Ray vii. 89 What was I supposed to say? That marriage is a cliff dive? 1981 27 Apr. b1/1 Walsh was cliff-diving into the Salt River..when an accident put him in a wheelchair. 1999 (Nexis) 17 May 13 [Women] now cliff-dive in Acapulco. 2010 C. Ferrer 70 Even if we are going the traditional boyfriend/girlfriend route, we did sort of cliff dive into it. 1944 Dec. 289/1 Acapulco is..noted for the daring of its cliff divers, who stake the speed of an inrushing wave against the risk of death 100 feet below. 1948 15 Oct. 12/5 ‘Aqua Frolics’—Featuring a submarine basketball game, Mexican cliff divers, canoes shooting rapids,..and a ballet of beautiful mermaids. 2014 (Nexis) 9 July 3 A team of 11 to 14-year-olds from Llanelli Surf Life Saving Club saved the life of a cliff diver near St David's, Pembrokeshire. 1933 22 June 21/6 Miss Glad is..an excellent swimmer and exhibition diver... She now holds the contract to double for Colleen Moore in her next picture, doing cliff diving and under water swimming. 2011 13 Aug. (Mag.) 10/1 Cliff diving is a marginal sport, perhaps, but a thrilling..one. 1876 6 64 They were driven to these cliff dwellings..for security against the predatory and warlike tribes east and south of them. 1936 5 250 This..suggests a method of estimation of large colonies of cliff-dwelling birds. 1996 July 402/3 The subjects of the drawings include..cliff-dwelling plants. 2012 (Nexis) 12 Jan. Visitors may walk the self-guided trail to the cliff dwellings anytime during park hours. 1908 31 Jan. Sioux City claims to have a wild cliff jumper, who has been seen on Prospect Hill by several people. 2011 Summer 70/2 The disused Dorothea Quarry..is eerily filled with water to a depth of 76 metres (250 feet) and is beloved of skin-divers and cliff-jumpers. 1902 28 Feb. 1/6 She concludes with the statement that indiscriminate cliff jumping is unprofitable,..ending with the statement that man must stand the trials and adversities of life. 1979 9 Sept. 53/1 Cliff jumping is a sport, a very beautiful experience. 2007 19 Aug. 15/4 These segments, which show leaps from popular rock faces such as Cudden Point in Cornwall and Durdle Door in Dorset, carry..advice on prime locations for cliff jumping. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > pinks or carnations 1863 R. C. A. Prior 48 Cliff-pink, from its growing upon Cheddar Cliffs in Somersetshire,..Dianthus cæsius. 1873 W. Bottrell 138 Gay with cliff-pinks and other flowers in places that not even a goat could reach. 1911 Sept. 57/2 The Cheddar or cliff pink..is the famous species which tourists go to see in Somerset, England. 1848 G. Engelmann in A. Wislizenus App. 114 Greggia rupestris is a lovely, sweet-scented shrub, with flowers resembling roses in shape and colour, so that Dr. Gregg was induced to name it the ‘Cliff rose’. 1887 W. Matthews Mountain Chant in 409 Each held an arrow made of the cliff rose (Cowania mexicana) in his extended right hand. 2008 J. L. Adams in 20 75 Sand and slick rock, cliff rose, juniper, and prickly pear. 1823 E. James II. vi. 185 They also saw..innumerable nests of the cliff swallows. 1844 R. W. Emerson 2nd Ser. iv. 130 The rock-Tibboos still dwell in caves, like cliff-swallows. 1931 H. S. Williams 57 The cliff swallow now plasters its mud nest under the eaves. 2000 19 June i. 16/8 We could also see tree swallows, flashing bluish-green as they swooped before our eyes;..and two cliff swallows. Derivatives 1815 31 Oct. The base..is rugged and broken, presenting to the eye of a spectator in the bay a bluff precipice, or cliff-like appearance. 1856 R. W. Emerson i. 21 Carlyle..was tall and gaunt, with a cliff-like brow. 1970 J. Dunbar 16 Here were gaunt streets with clifflike rows of houses. 2004 June 36/1 I have just walked past an almost cliff-like slope where forensic lines of seed potatoes are being put down by hand. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022). cliffv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: cliff n. Etymology: < cliff n. Compare earlier cliffed adj. Chiefly Geology. 1833 Feb. 661 The extremities of the estate..were curbed in one direction by high blue mountains, while the opposite limit, striped and margined by the sea, was cliffed and buttressed by the granite barriers of the Atlantic. 1856 J. P. Lesley iii. 154 In the case before us, the upland is formed of the Great Coal Conglomerate cliffing out along the tops of the valleys' slopes. 1871 8 159 The sea wearing back the Boulder-clay up to the old pre-Glacial east and west cliff, and also slightly cliffing the base of the natural escarpment. 1949 H. Wilcox xvii. 364 The steep path, cruelly gashed and cliffed by the violence of a million downpours, was a sad trial to Horse. 1993 I. Doig (1994) 145 Yellow shaley rock cliffed out wherever the gulch broke at a bend. 2011 Special Issue No. 61. 382/1 All three cave types can be found in coastal exposures being cliffed by Holocene wave activity. This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.eOE v.1833 |
