English Explanatory Dictionary

cliff

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A vertical (or nearly vertical) rock face.
  2. A point beyond which something abruptly fails or decreases in value, performance, etc.
noun
  1. Obsolete form of clef.
name
  1. A diminutive of the male given name Clifford or Clifton.
  2. A surname.
  3. An unincorporated community and coal town in Floyd County, Kentucky, United States.
  4. A census-designated place in Grant County, New Mexico, United States.
  5. A hamlet in North Warwickshire district, Warwickshire, England (OS grid ref SP2198).
  6. A neighbourhood, The Cliff, in the Metropolitan Borough of Salford, Greater Manchester, England (OS grid ref SD8201).
  7. A small settlement on the Isle of Lewis, Western Isles council area, Scotland, appearing on OS maps as Cliobh (OS grid ref NB0835).

Pronunciation

klĭf /klɪf/ [kʰl̥ɪf] En-us-cliff.ogg /kləf/ [kʰl̥əf]

Word forms

cliff cliffs

Etymology

From Middle English clyf, from Old English clif, from Proto-West Germanic *klib, from Proto-Germanic *klibą.

Synonyms

precipice

Derived words

alto cliff ambulance at the bottom of a cliff American cliff swallow bass cliff benefit cliff benefits cliff bird cliff Cleveland cliffage cliffbound cliff-bound cliffbrake cliffdrop cliffed cliff edge cliff face cliff-face cliff fall cliff-green cliffgreen cliff green cliffhanger cliff hanger cliff-hanger cliffing cliffless clifflet cliff lift clifflike cliffline cliff notes cliff railway cliff rose cliffrose cliffscape Cliffsend Cliffs End cliffside cliff spurge cliff stonecrop cliff swallow clifftop cliffy Clifton Coalcliff Edgecliff fall off a cliff fall off the cliff fiscal cliff follow someone off a cliff glass cliff go jump off a cliff Heathcliff Kingscliff Kuiper cliff Nightcliff Oak Cliff Queenscliff Red Cliffs seacliff
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