cliff
pronunciation
How to pronounce cliff in British English:
UK [klɪf]
How to pronounce cliff in American English:
US [klɪf]
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- Noun:
- a steep high face of rock
Word Origin
- cliff
- cliff: [OE] Cliff comes from a prehistoric Germanic *kliban, of unknown origin (German klippe ‘crag’ is a collateral relative). The compound cliffhanger seems to have originated in the USA in the 1930s; it comes from the serial movies then popular, in which at the end of each episode the hero or heroine was left in some perilous situation, such as hanging off the edge of a cliff, not resolved until the next instalment.
- cliff (n.)
- Old English clif "rock, promontory, steep slope," from Proto-Germanic *kliban (cognates: Old Saxon clif, Old Norse klif, Middle Dutch klippe, Dutch klip, Old High German klep, German Klippe "cliff, promontory, steep rock"). Clift has been a variant spelling since 15c. and was common in early Modern English, influenced by or merged with clift, a variant of cleft (n.). Cliff-dweller first attested 1889, American English.
Example
- 1. Two days later , they saw a sheer cliff .
- 2. The global economy is like a train hanging over a cliff .
- 3. It could also hover down a cliff face to examine geological strata .
- 4. Two headed to different villages , while the third climbed up the cliff to take up fighting positions .
- 5. But rather than face more public humiliation mr roh committed suicide on saturday may 23rd by jumping off a cliff .