Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rift valley
If the two plates keep moving apart, then eventually the Arabian Sea and rift valley will become a new ocean.
—
Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 24 Nov. 2025
The high plain ran to the rift valley and the Rio Grande, which flows all the way to Mexico.
—Michael Paterniti, Travel + Leisure, 14 Nov. 2025
The rift valleys of East Africa are some of the largest and most spectacular topographic features on Earth.
—David Bressan, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025
There is a rift valley on the Rio Grande in the desert of New Mexico where an award-winning home sits.
—Jennifer Castenson, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024
Rather than having a central volcano, the Reykjanes Peninsula is dominated by a rift valley with lava fields and cones.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN, 18 Mar. 2024
Baringo is a county based within Kenya’s rift valley, which, according to Buret, experiences unnoticeable tectonic earth movement daily.
—Faustine Ngila, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2023
Valles Marineris is thought to be a rift valley, formed by uplift when hot material from the Mars's mantle bubbled up and stretched the planet's crust.
—Discover Magazine, 20 Oct. 2010
Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 24 Nov. 2025
The high plain ran to the rift valley and the Rio Grande, which flows all the way to Mexico.
—Michael Paterniti, Travel + Leisure, 14 Nov. 2025
The rift valleys of East Africa are some of the largest and most spectacular topographic features on Earth.
—David Bressan, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025
There is a rift valley on the Rio Grande in the desert of New Mexico where an award-winning home sits.
—Jennifer Castenson, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024
Rather than having a central volcano, the Reykjanes Peninsula is dominated by a rift valley with lava fields and cones.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN, 18 Mar. 2024
Baringo is a county based within Kenya’s rift valley, which, according to Buret, experiences unnoticeable tectonic earth movement daily.
—Faustine Ngila, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2023
Valles Marineris is thought to be a rift valley, formed by uplift when hot material from the Mars's mantle bubbled up and stretched the planet's crust.
—Discover Magazine, 20 Oct. 2010
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rift valley
Noun
-
People who want to get closer to the animals can book a ranch tour to access more corners of the 600-acre estate, which includes over 500 acres of equestrian trails and a 250-acre canyon.—
Nora Heston Tarte,
Mercury News,
6 Apr. 2026
-
My goal was to inspect calcium carbonate rocks, found near methane seeps at the base of the canyon walls, in search of methane-eating microbes.—
Jeffrey Marlow,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Travelers previously descended into the canyon along steep switchback roads prone to rockfalls or took long detours around the gorge, routes that added more than an hour to travel time.—
Aman Kumar,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Compounding the problem is that birds flock to nandina and gorge on its berries in the fall and winter when other foods are scant.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The road to the potato patches — where the community grows most of its vegetables — crosses several large gulches that frequently spill tons of rock and soil onto the track, requiring regular maintenance.—
NPR,
NPR,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Tucked into the coastal bluffs just off of Highway 1, Calla Lily Valley is a small gulch that explodes with vibrancy this time of year as hundreds of shoulder-high white flowers bloom in unison.—
Gregory Thomas,
San Francisco Chronicle,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The geological history of this valley goes back 300 to 350 million years when Pine Creek began cutting across what eventually became the Allegheny Plateau.—
Anthony Fredericks,
Travel + Leisure,
12 Apr. 2026
-
The low snowfall in the valleys around the Great Salt Lake are symptoms of the lake's chronically low water levels, Abbott said.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
12 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
When camping in an open environment, select a campsite in a valley, ravine, or low region.—
KANSAS CITY STAR WEATHER BOT,
Kansas City Star,
10 Apr. 2026
-
She was found hours later, barely alive and with a fractured skull, having been brutally raped and left for dead in one of the park’s ravines.—
Tracy Grant,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The hole was 340 yards and had no bunkers, only a gully in front of the green.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Authorities say the mountain sees about a dozen rescues and one fatality per year, with slip-and-falls in steep gullies being a common danger.—
Gregory Thomas,
San Francisco Chronicle,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Make gentle depressions with your fingertips to create ¼-inch-deep divots.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
12 Apr. 2026
-
One of the bills would create a pilot program for psychedelic or psilocybin mushrooms to be used in medicine for the treatment of mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression.—
Esme Murphy,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
In less than 10 minutes, a wooden bridge deposits us on the doorstep of a cinematic landscape that unfurls into a seemingly endless patchwork of rolling hills and glens in hues of umber, cinnamon, and ochre, flanked by mountains standing sentinel on either side.—
Jen Murphy,
Robb Report,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Her outfit stayed inside Browne’s gray suit vocabulary, layering a glen-check blazer with strong shoulders layered over a matching waist panel and pleated detail at the hip, finished with the brand’s red-white-blue grosgrain tab at the hem.—
Maggie Clancy,
Footwear News,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rift valley.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rift%20valley. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
