cliff
/klɪf
/noun
A steep rock face, especially at the edge of the sea: a coast path along the top of rugged cliffs...
- His daughter's empty camper van was found parked at the edge of cliffs near her home in Cornwall.
- The path hugs the cliffs in places, with steep drops to the sea, so care is needed.
- We get ochres on the island, the white ochre is collected from the cliff edge of the beach.
Synonyms
precipice, rock face, face, crag, bluff, ridge, escarpment, scar, scarp, overhang;
South African krantz;
Geology cuesta
literary steep
Scottish archaic linn
Derivatives
cliff-like
- The cliff-like structure at the heart of the old town rises directly from the sea and causes it to resemble a stone boat at anchor.
- In the urban maze of narrow streets cut between the cliff-like skyscrapers below, there was mayhem.
- Inside, the narrow alleys are tight woven, winding shadily between cliff-like walls of brown mud or sparkling white lime wash.
cliffy
/ adjective ...- Granada province's coastline is rugged and cliffy.
- ‘Well, I woke up on the cliffy beaches of Riverton,’ she answered.
- The terrain is very rough, with an array of canyons, cliffy massifs, and stony substrates.
Origin
Old English clif, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch klif.
Rhymes
- herdsman
- Herdwick
- here
- hereabout
- hereabouts
- hereafter
- here and now
- here and there
- hereat
- hereby
- hereditability
- hereditable
- hereditably
- heredital
- hereditament
- hereditance
- hereditarian
- hereditarianism
- hereditarily
- hereditariness
- hereditary
- hereditary countries
- hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia
- hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia
- hereditary lands