English Reference
noun

cliff

n.
US /ˈkɫɪf/ UK /klˈɪf/ cliff UK spelling cliff's, cliff's

  1. 01 B1 Intermediate

    a very steep, high wall of rock, often next to the sea.

    a vertical or nearly vertical rock face, frequently occurring at the interface of land and sea or along a mountain ridge.

    Simple

    They walked carefully along the edge of the cliff to look at the waves below.

    In context

    The limestone cliffs rose hundreds of feet above the Atlantic, providing a nesting ground for thousands of migratory seabirds.


The given name is from shortenings of the diminutives. The surname is from the noun cliff.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Common
Updated