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rive

verb

Synonyms and Antonyms of rive

1 to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly

  • road pavement that had been riven by the annual freeze-and-thaw cycle
Synonyms of rive

break, break up, bust, disintegrate, dismember, disrupt, fracture, fragment
Words Related to rive

atomize, crush, grind, powder, pulverize, reduce

blast, blow up, burst, detonate, explode

crack, pop, shatter, shiver, smash

chip, sliver, splinter, split

implode

destroy, ruin, wreck
Near Antonyms of rive

doctor, fix, heal, mend, patch, rebuild, recondition, reconstruct, renovate, repair

2 to cause (something) to separate into jagged pieces by violently pulling at it

  • the bitter disappointment threatened to rive my heart in two
Synonyms of rive

rend, ribbon, rip, shred, tatter, tear
Words Related to rive

break, cleave, rupture, split

cut, gash, incise, lacerate, slash

butcher, dismember, dissect, hack, mangle

Synonym Discussion of rive

tear, rip, rend, split, cleave, rive mean to separate forcibly. tear implies pulling apart by force and leaving jagged edges.
    • tear up the letter
rip implies a pulling apart in one rapid uninterrupted motion often along a line or joint.
    • ripped the shirt on a nail
rend implies very violent or ruthless severing or sundering.
    • an angry mob rent the prisoner's clothes
split implies a cutting or breaking apart in a continuous, straight, and usually lengthwise direction or in the direction of grain or layers.
    • split logs for firewood
cleave implies very forceful splitting or cutting with a blow.
    • a bolt of lightning cleaved the giant oak
rive occurs most often in figurative use.
    • a political party riven by conflict

Learn More about rive

  1. See words that rhyme with rive Dictionary: Definition of rive Britannica English: Translation of rive for Arabic speakers

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