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

Their affection feels genuine, which makes the fault lines beneath it more troubling. — Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026

Texas’ natural fault line When Texas joined the SEC, in 2024, the width of the gap between UT and Texas A&M from the rest of the major schools in this state expanded to the size of Big Bend National Park. — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Aug. 2026

And yet these fault lines cut through the foundation of the WNBA at a time when all general interest metrics are up, up, up, and when one of the league’s newest franchises, the Golden State Valkyries, has hit the $1 billion valuation mark. — Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026

The mountains of western North Carolina sit in the middle of the North American tectonic plate rather than along its volatile fault lines, according to the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis. — Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 23 Aug. 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