Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Cliff |
CliffNoun1. A steep high face of rock. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
"Cliff" is a name that signifies or is derived from: "a ford by a cliff". |
Date "cliff" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1050. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Mining | A. Wales. Shale that is laminated, splitting easily along the planes of deposition. Also called clift.b. The strata of rocks above or between coal seams. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In physical geography, a cliff is a significant vertical rock exposure. A scarp is a type of cliff, formed by contraction. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments, and along streams. Generally speaking, cliffs are formed by rock that is resistant to erosion and weathering. Sedimentary rocks most likely to form cliffs are sandstone, limestone, chalk, and dolomite. Igneous rocks, such as Granite and basalt, also often form cliffs.Most cliffs have some form of talus slope at their base. In arid areas or under high cliffs, these are generally exposed jumbles of fallen rock. In areas of higher moisture, a soil slope often obscures the talus.
Many cliffs also feature waterfalls or rock shelters. Sometimes a cliff peters out at the end of a ridge, with tea tables or other types of rock columns remaining.
Some of the highest cliffs in the United States are to be found at Yosemite National Park in California, where some are three thousand feet (almost one thousand meters) high.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Cliff."
Synonym: CliffSynonym: drop-off (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Height | Mount, mountain; hill alto, butte, monticle, fell, knap; cape; headland, foreland; promontory; ridge, hog's back, dune; rising ground, vantage ground; down; moor, moorland; Alp; uplands, highlands; heights; (summit); knob, loma, pena, picacho, tump; knoll, hummock, hillock, barrow, mound, mole; steeps, bluff, cliff, craig, tor, peak, pike, clough; escarpment, edge, ledge, brae; dizzy height. |
Verticality | Wall, precipice, cliff. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Cliff |
| English words defined with "cliff": Acapulco, Acapulco de Juarez, Anasazi, Asplenium ruta-muraria ♦ bird's-foot fern ♦ Canyonlands National Park, cliff diving, cliff dwelling, Clift, cove, crag ♦ escarpment ♦ face ♦ Heugh, Hogh, Hydromantes brunus ♦ landslide, landslip, limestone salamander ♦ Mesa Verde National Park ♦ Pellaea mucronata, Pellaea ornithopus, precipice ♦ scarp, scree ♦ talus ♦ Undercliff ♦ wall rue, wall rue spleenwort. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "cliff": block field, block sea, blockmeer ♦ chaos of rocks, Climb down, Clym of the Clough ♦ Drops ♦ fault scarp, felsenmeer ♦ ice front ♦ Jumala ♦ mountain-top detritus ♦ rim flying, rincon ♦ scree slope, Sela-hammahlekoth, Sela-hammah-lekoth, stone field ♦ talus slope ♦ Visible feature ♦ Wrath's Hole. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "cliff": Klipspringer. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Cliff" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. German (cliff). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | So I wasn't too upset when they took that wrong turn and went over the cliff. (My Girl; writing credit: Laurice Elehwany. Starring Dan Aykroyd as Harry Sultenfuss, Jamie Lee Curtis as Shelly DeVoto, Macaulay Culkin as Thomas J. Sennett, and Anna Chlumsky as Vada Sultenfuss.) You know, like on a head on crash or flying off a cliff or getting trapped under a gas truck (Dumb & Dumber; writing credit: Peter Farrelly; Bennett Yellin) My name is Cliff, brother of Joe. I got me some crack (Dead Man on Campus; writing credit: Anthony Abrams; Adam Larson Broder) If Milhouse jumped off a cliff (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) Cliff, I love the way you beg. (The Cosby Show; writing credit: Bob Shayne) | |
Lyrics | Or tell your brother Cliff who's fist can tell my lips (Achy Breaky Heart; performing artist: Billy Ray Cyrus) There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall (King Of Pain; performing artist: The Police) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Getaway with Cliff (1971) It's Cliff Richard (1970) The Cliff Hanger (1963) Cliff Hangers (1950) The Cliff Edwards Show (1949) | |
Song Titles | I Can See Clearly Now (performing artist: Jimmy Cliff) SUDDENLY (performing artist: Olivia Newton-John & Cliff Richard ) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Hauling Shoran gear up the cliff at Nushagak Bay Party off of PATHFINDER Photo No. 2 of sequence. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | Bringing Shoran gear up a cliff for shore camp by using strongback Operations off of SURVEYOR. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | Facing south, a cliff face near the restoration site. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |  | From the water, a prominent cliff face of Mona Island. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |
 | Cliff Newell (lft), former NOAA Dive Prog. Dir. & German diver during HELGOLAND. Credit: National Undersea Research Program (NURP). |  | A pair of Tufted Puffins on a cliff. Credit: Sanctuaries. |
 | Lt. Col. Cliff James. |  | A cliff face out of focus in the background, with a tree in focus in the foreground. Credit: Christine Tincher. |
 | Storm waves hitting cliff near Yaquina Head lighthouse. Credit: Kathy Liska. |  | Eagle Cliff Nesting site. Credit: Alaska Image Library. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Cliff overhang" by Charlene Winfred Commentary: "National Park, Kalbarri, Western Australia." | "Cliff" by Carlos A Commentary: "This is a beach close to my home in Puerto Rico." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption |
 | Falling; fell; fall; plunge; death; cliff; airborne; nose-dive; plummet; slow motion. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Ray Bradbury | First you jump off the cliff and you build wings on the way down. |
Walter F. Mondale | In our system, at about 11:30 on election night, they just push you off the edge of the cliff and that's it. You might scream on the way down, but you're going to hit the bottom, and you're not going to be in elective office. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | The huge barricade extended like a cliff upon which broke the strategy of the generals of Africa |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Chad | The cliff paintings in Borkou and Ennedi depict elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, cattle, and camels; only camels survive there today. (references) |
Human Rights | Ecuador | After Shinin Lazo was released on November 14, 2000, he reportedly was abducted by unidentified gunmen and taken to the outskirts of Ambato, where he was shot and thrown over a cliff. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Cliff" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 74.23% of the time. "Cliff" is used about 1,295 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 74.23% | 961 | 7,574 |
| Noun (proper) | 22.99% | 298 | 16,826 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 2.39% | 31 | 62,296 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 0.31% | 4 | 175,879 |
| Noun (common) | 0.08% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,295 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "cliff" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Cliff | First name Male | 12,000 | 612 |
| Cliff | Last name | 1,000 | 14,671 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
| "Cliff" is a name that signifies or is derived from: "a ford by a cliff". | |||
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "cliff". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Cliff | Male | English | A ford by a cliff |
| Clifford | Male | English | A ford by a cliff |
| Clive | Male | English | A cliff |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
| The following table summarizes names related to "Cliff." | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Related Name |
| Cliff | Male | English | Clifford |
| Clifford | Male | English | N/A |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "cliff": bird cliff ♦ carbon Cliff ♦ cliff brake ♦ cliff diving ♦ cliff dweller ♦ cliff dwelling ♦ cliff hanger ♦ cliff Island ♦ Cliff limestone ♦ cliff penstemon ♦ cliff rose ♦ Cliff swallow ♦ cliff Village ♦ climb a cliff ♦ Ford Cliff ♦ fragrant cliff fern ♦ go over the cliff ♦ hurl smb. over a cliff ♦ Marble Cliff ♦ Red Cliff ♦ Sea Cliff ♦ sheer cliff ♦ Silver Cliff. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "cliff": cliff-arch, cliff-bound, cliff-breeders, cliff-climbing, cliff-dweller, cliff-dwelling, cliff-edge, cliff-edged, cliff-face, cliff-fall, cliff-hanger, cliff-hangers, cliff-hanging, cliff-jumping, cliff-like, cliff-nesting, cliff-path, cliff-side, cliff-slopes, cliff-top, cliff-tops, cliff-wall, cliff-walls. | |
Ending with "cliff": ice-cliff, quarry-cliff, sea-cliff, Stephens-on-the-cliff, super-cliff. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
cliff note | 4,247 | cliff floyd | 52 |
cliff | 495 | cliff harry note potter | 52 |
free cliff note | 443 | cliff resort | 52 |
cliff richard | 291 | cliff note online | 49 |
cliff house | 264 | the cliff at peace canyon | 48 |
englewood cliff new jersey | 229 | cliff parker | 47 |
jimmy cliff | 183 | cliff jumping | 46 |
cliff burton | 178 | cliff shadow | 45 |
cliff dwelling | 151 | cliff note on to kill a mockingbird | 45 |
cliff of moher | 136 | cliff at shell beach | 44 |
the white cliff of dover | 99 | cliff francisco house san | 41 |
cliff castle casino | 91 | cliff richards | 41 |
cliff house maine | 85 | cliff note book | 41 |
sea cliff new york | 82 | cliff notes.com | 40 |
cliff amusement park | 75 | cliff at glassy | 40 |
cliff diving | 71 | cliff curtis | 39 |
laguna cliff marriott | 65 | cheer cliff | 38 |
cliff bar | 63 | pointe hilton tapatio cliff resort | 38 |
free cliff note online | 63 | sea cliff | 38 |
clarice cliff | 56 | cliff robertson | 37 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "cliff"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | skërkë (crag), shkrep (crag, flash, hit), shkëmb (peak, rock, tor). (various references) | |
Arabic | جرف منحدر صخري, جرف (curette, drag, dragging, drift, escarpment, palisade, plow, precipice, rake, shovel, sweep, sweep away, sweeping, transport, undercut bank, wash). (various references) | |
Blackfoot | miistákssko. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | стръмна скала (scar), надвиснала земя. (various references) | |
Chamorro | kantít. (various references) | |
Chinese | 峭壁 (precipice, steep). (various references) | |
Cornish | leder. (various references) | |
Czech | útes (reef, rock). (various references) | |
Dutch | klip (reef), klif (precipice). (various references) | |
Esperanto | klifo. (various references) | |
Farsi | تخته سنگ (Boulder, Crag, Roach, Slab), صخره (Roach, Rock). (various references) | |
Finnish | rantakallio, kallio (rock). (various references) | |
French | falaise. (various references) | |
German | Klippe (crag, hurdle, obstacle, reef, rock), kliff (bluff). (various references) | |
Greek | κρημνόσ (escarpment, precipice, steep), γκρεμόσ (crag, precipice, scarp), γκρεμός (precipice), βράχοσ (bluff, rock), απότομοσ βράχοσ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | שן סלע (crag, headland), שונית (bluff, headland, reef), צוק (crag, rock), צור (rock), סלע (boulder, rock, stone). (various references) | |
Hungarian | szirt (ledge, rock, skerry), szikla (crag, gibber, rock), szirtfal, sziklafal, kőszirt (crag). (various references) | |
Indonesian | karang (coral). (various references) | |
Irish | aill. (various references) | |
Italian | strapiombo (overhanging), sponda ripida (steep bank), sponda alta (steep bank), scogliera (bluff, reef, rock), rupe (rock, scar), roccia in parete (escarpment), roccia acclive (escarpment), precipizio (precipice, ravine), faraglione, dirupo (crag, precipice), acclività (escarpment, grade, gradient, slope). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 絶壁 (precipice), 断崖 (palisade), 崖 , 切り岸 (steep bank). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ぜっぺき (neighbor with just a wall between, precipice), がけ, きりぎし (steep bank), だんがい (accusation, censure, impeachment, palisade). (various references) | |
Korean | 단애. (various references) | |
Manx | hough (shin), eaynin (daisy; escarpment, precipice). (various references) | |
Norwegian | skrent, klippe (clip, cut, fleece, shear). (various references) | |
Papago | koa. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | iffclay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | penhasco (crag, rock), falésia (bluff, leg pull), escarpa (acclivity, escarp, scarp, steep, talus). (various references) | |
Romanian | costişã (declivity, slope), colţ (aiguille, angle, corner, Fang, nest, nook, quoin, spot, stump, tooth, tusk), stâncã (block, crag, precipice, rock, rocklet, shelf, tor), râpã (precipice, ravine, steep), pantã (acclivity, chute, declension, declivity, descent, dip, downhill, fall, glacis, gradient, hade, inclination, incline, ramp, slant, slope, splay, tilt, up), falezã (bluff, sea front, sea wall), ţãrm stâncos. (various references) | |
Russian | утес (crag, rock, scar), скала (crag, rock), крутой обрыв, отвесная скала. (various references) | |
Scottish | stac (a precipice, steep cliff or hill), stòr (a steep cliff, baggage, store). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | litica (crag, drop, precipice, scaur), hrid (rock, scaur, skerry). (various references) | |
Sicilian | scugghiera. (various references) | |
Spanish | precipicio (abyss, chasm, drop, gulf, precipice), acantilado (bluff, sheer, steep). (various references) | |
Swazi | lî-wá. (various references) | |
Swedish | klippa (clip, cut, edit, mow, outcrop, outcropp, pare, rock, rock (of stone), scaur, scissor, shear, trim). (various references) | |
Thai | หน้าผา. (various references) | |
Turkish | yar (love, precipice, scarp), uçurum (abysm, abyss, bluff, chasm, crag, gap, gulf, precipice, scarp, steep), sarp kayalık (precipice, steep), kayalık (bluff, crag, rockwork, rocky, rocky place, rugged, scar, scaur). (various references) | |
Turkmen | gaяa (crag). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | стрімка скеля, круча (bluff, chute), бескид (needle). (various references) | |
Welsh | clogwyn (bluff, crag, precipice), gallt (hill, wood), allt (hill, hill-side, wood). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | caute, rupem, rupes, rupibus. (various references) |
| Old English | 450-1100 | clif. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | 2 Chronicles Chapter 20, Verse 16 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Aurion katabhte ep' autouV idou anabainousin kata thn anabasin asaV kai eurhsete autouV ep' akrou potamou thV erhmou ierihl |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Cras descendetis contra eos ascensuri enim sunt per clivum nomine Sis et invenietis illos in summitate torrentis qui est contra solitudinem Hieruhel |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | To morowe ye schul steyyen up ayeinus hem; forsothe thei ben to steiyen up bi the pich hil, Cis by name, and ye schul fynden hem in the ouermest of the streme, that is ayeinus the wildernesse of Jheruel. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | To-morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Go down against them tomorrow: see, they are coming up by the slope of Ziz; at the end of the valley, before the waste land of Jeruel, you will come face to face with them. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | 2 Chronicles Chapter 20, Verse 16 |
| Cebuano | Ugma umadto kamo batok kanila: Ania karon, sila motungas sa tungasan sa Sis; ug makita ninyo sila sa kinatumyan sa walog, sa dili pa ang kamingawan sa Jeruel. |
| Chinese | 明 日 你 們 要 下 去 迎 敵 ． 他 們 是 從 洗 斯 坡 上 來 ． 你 們 必 在 耶 魯 伊 勒 曠 野 前 的 谷 口 遇 見 他 們 。 |
| Croatian | Sutra siðite na njih; oni æe se penjati uz Hasiški uspon, a vi æete ih sresti nakraj doline prema Jeruelskoj pustinji. |
| Danish | Drag i Morgen ned imod dem; se, de er ved at stige op ad Vejen ved Hazziz, og l vil træffe dem ved Enden af Dalen østen for Jeruels Ørken. |
| Dutch | Trekt morgen tot hen af; ziet, zij komen op bij den opgang van Ziz; en gij zult hen vinden in het einde des dals, voor aan de woestijn van Jeruel. |
| Finnish | Menkää huomenna heitä vastaan. Katso, he nousevat silloin Siisin solaa pitkin, ja te kohtaatte heidät laakson päässä, itäänpäin Jeruelin erämaasta. |
| French | Demain, descendez contre eux; ils vont monter par la colline de Tsits, et vous les trouverez à l`extrémité de la vallée, en face du désert de Jeruel. |
| German | Morgen sollt ihr zu ihnen hinabziehen; und siehe, sie ziehen die Höhe von Ziz herauf, und ihr werdet sie treffen, wo das Tal endet, vor der Wüste Jeruel. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Besok pada waktu mereka naik melalui jalan menanjak di Zis, seranglah mereka. Kalian akan berhadapan dengan mereka pada ujung lembah di depan padang gurun dekat Yeruel. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Esok hari hendaklah kamu turun mendatangi mereka itu serta berjalan naik dari pada jurang Zif, maka kamu mendapati akan mereka itu kelak pada ujung lembah, pada sebelah timur padang belantara Yeruil. |
| Italian | Domani, scendete contro di loro; ecco, saliranno per la salita di Ziz. Voi li sorprenderete al termine della valle di fronte al deserto di Ieruel. |
| Maori | Apopo ka haere ki raro ki te tu i a ratou: nana, kei te piki mai ratou i te pikitanga i Titi; a ka kite koutou i a ratou i te pito o te awaawa, i te ritenga o te koraha o Ieruere. |
| Norwegian | Dra ned mot dem imorgen! Da drar de opefter Hassis-bakken, Og I kommer til å møte dem ved enden av dalen midt imot Jeruelørkenen. |
| Portuguese | Amanhã descereis contra eles; eis que sobem pela ladeira de Ziz, e os achareis na extremidade do vale, defronte do deserto de Jeruel. |
| Rumanian | Mkne pogorkyi-vq kmpotriva lor. Ei se vor sui pe dealul Yiy, wi -i veyi gqsi la capqtul vqii, kn faya pustiei Ieruel. |
| Spanish | Descended mañana contra ellos. He aquí que ellos subirán por la cuesta de Sis, y los encontraréis en el extremo del valle, frente al desierto de Jeruel. |
| Swedish | Dragen i morgon ned mot dem. De draga då upp på Hassishöjden, och I skolen träffa dem vid andan av dalen, framför Jeruels öken. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "cliff": cliffhanger, cliffhangers, cliffier, cliffiest, cliffs, cliffy. (additional references) | |
| |
"Cliff" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cdif, chiff, cif, cilf, cilfit, Claffam, clief, clif, clife, Clilff, coiff, Klaff, liff, lyff. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-f-f-i-l" | |
-1 letter: flic. | |
-2 letters: fil, iff. | |
-3 letters: if, li. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-f-f-i-l" | |
+1 letter: cliffs, cliffy. | |
+2 letters: afflict. | |
+3 letters: afflicts, cliffier, coffling, cufflink, facelift, fanciful, official. | |
+4 letters: afflicted, cliffiest, cufflinks, difficile, difficult, facelifts, falciform, felicific, officials, officinal, sclaffing, scruffily, scuffling. | |
+5 letters: afflicting, affliction, afflictive, difficulty, facelifted, fancifully, officially, unofficial. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Sounds 10. Quotations: Familiar 11. Quotations: Fiction 12. Quotations: Non-fiction | 13. Usage Frequency 14. Names: Frequency 15. Names: Derived from 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Translations: Ancient 20. Bible Trace | 21. Derivations 22. Anagrams 23. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
