Rive (Verb)
Meaning 1
Tear or be torn violently; "The curtain ripped from top to bottom"; "pull the cooked chicken into strips".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- The powerful explosion managed to rive the metal apart into jagged pieces.
- A combination of extreme temperature fluctuations caused the pipes to rive under pressure.
- As the fire raged on, the blistering heat began to rive the wooden beams apart.
- The blast ripped through the fabric, beginning to rive the delicate threads into shreds.
- Her furious words seemed to rive through the silence like shattering glass fragments.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
Separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument; "cleave the bone".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- The woodsplitter used an axe to rive the logs along the grain for firewood.
- A jackknife can rive a rope to separate it.
- Rivets may be used to rejoin bone splintered when an animal runs fast enough to rive its legs.
- Masonry workers would rive stone using chisels to shape building blocks.
- Those who still rive wood by hand often have big forearms.