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as in gap
an open space in a barrier (as a wall or hedge)
it was possible to peek through the rift in the fence and see the ball game
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in to rupture
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of rift
Lorne Cook, Fortune, 1 Feb. 2026
Kat Lake considered declining to send a message of support to her fellow trans pinball players amid a painful rift.
—Jo Yurcaba, NBC news, 31 Jan. 2026
Gabe Allen, Discover Magazine, 15 Sep. 2022
The police, unsurprisingly, started to fire tear gas canisters again, trying to rift and wedge the fleeing protesters.
—Quartz Staff, Quartz, 28 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for rift
Noun
Rutte has pointedly refused to speak about the rift over Greenland.
—Lorne Cook, Fortune, 1 Feb. 2026
Kat Lake considered declining to send a message of support to her fellow trans pinball players amid a painful rift.
—Jo Yurcaba, NBC news, 31 Jan. 2026
Verb
However, the supercontinent began to rift and splinter in the late Triassic about 230 million years ago.
—Gabe Allen, Discover Magazine, 15 Sep. 2022
The police, unsurprisingly, started to fire tear gas canisters again, trying to rift and wedge the fleeing protesters.
—Quartz Staff, Quartz, 28 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for rift
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rift
Noun
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Recent protests amid corruption scandals, elite clan fissures, and governance failures suggest that nostalgia is again colliding with reality.—
Alejandro Reyes,
Washington Post,
3 Feb. 2026
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This Colorado Avalanche season was nearly fissure-free during the first half.—
Corey Masisak,
Denver Post,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Engineers have struggled to close the reaction gap between human perception and machine processing without sacrificing accuracy.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
-
There’s a dusty cloud surrounding the central, contracting star, and that cloud is strongly suspected to be disk-like, with outflows and gaps in the dust in the two directions perpendicular to the disk.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Vonn, 41, started the Olympic downhill despite having ruptured the ACL in her left knee just days beforehand.—
Frederick Dreier,
Outside,
9 Feb. 2026
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Skiing in a brace just nine days after rupturing the ACL in her left knee, Vonn did not finish the final at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The roughly 2-mile uphill climb to the top will raise your heart rate, and the terrain is challenging, with several rocky sections and deep crevices caused by years of erosion.—
Maura Fox,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
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Not only do our mops, brooms, and vacuums not naturally reach little crevices and detail work in trim, but mopping and sweeping and vacuuming tend to stir up dust where the wall meets the floor, and this causes debris and other allergens to build up quickly along the baseboards.—
Kate Van Pelt,
The Spruce,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Will the loss or diminishment of newspapers leave a hole in society?—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
10 Feb. 2026
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Oval holes in the walls once held lamps to light the street after dark.—
Maureen O'Hare,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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At least five competing proposals have emerged from major coalitions, several of which have fractured in recent days as internal disputes deepened.—
JACQUELINE CHARLES MIAMI HERALD,
Arkansas Online,
6 Feb. 2026
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At least five competing proposals have emerged from major coalitions, several of which have fractured in recent days as internal disputes deepened.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The case has deeply embarrassed the royal family, especially his mother, who suffers from an incurable lung illness and who is torn between her role as mother and future queen.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
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And that dislocation tore the labrum, which is the tissue that surrounds the socket and attaches it to the bone.—
Jenny McCoy,
SELF,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The subjects say rending but also disquieting things about killing.—
Lisa Kennedy,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2026
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There’s also a poem that Anders gave Winslet for Mother’s Day years ago, and which plays a pivotal role in Goodbye June’s heart-rending climax.—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rift.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rift. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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