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- a crack, split, or break in something裂缝, 裂口：
the wind had torn open a rift in the clouds.
风把云层吹开了一条裂缝。
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- Geology a major fault separating blocks of the earth's surface; a rift valley【地质】地堑, 裂谷。
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- figurative a serious break in friendly relations〈喻〉（友好关系的）裂痕：
the rift between the two branches of the legal profession.
法律界两个分支间的裂痕。
no obj.
1- chiefly Geology form fissures, cracks, or breaks, especially through large-scale faulting; move apart【主地质】开裂, 断裂：
a fragment of continental crust which rifted away from eastern Australia
从东澳大利亚断裂开去的一块大陆地壳
as noun rifting active rifting in south-western Mexico.墨西哥西南部活跃的地壳断裂。
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- with obj. [usu. as adj. rifted] tear or force (something) apart使断裂, 使开裂：
the nascent rifted margins of the Red Sea.
红海地区刚断裂的边缘部分。
词源
Middle English: of Scandinavian origin; compare with Norwegian and Danish rift 'cleft, chink'.