fault line

noun

: something resembling a fault : split, rift

… a major conceptual fault line in foreign policy …

—Morton Kondracke

Examples of fault line in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Fault risk Perhaps the most surprising discovery involves the fault line itself. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2026

Israel’s impact American support for Israel — in the wake of wars in Gaza and Iran — has been a major point of division among more progressive and moderate candidates and is a key fault line among many donors. — Ben Wieder, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026

In July, Chinese geologists reported that the dam is being constructed over an active fault line, risking the integrity of the project's infrastructure. — Mamita Bhandari, NPR, 23 Sep. 2026

The fault lines are thus quickly drawn, and the increasing stress prompts Jack to impose, that very night, his strategic pause on the relationship. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1869, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for fault line

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• brucine
• byline