different between cliffed vs cliff

English

Etymology

cliff +? -ed

Adjective

cliffed (comparative more cliffed, superlative most cliffed)

1. formed by cliffs
   • 1984, Gerald G. Kuhn, Francis Parker Shepard, Sea cliffs, beaches, and coastal valleys of San Diego County: some amazing histories and some horrifying implications, University of California Press, page 3:

     The cliffed coasts are cut mostly in consolidated rock of somewhat uniform material, which usually results in straight coastlines.

   • 1985, United Nations Environment Programme, International Maritime Organization, Oil spills and shoreline clean-up on the coasts of the Eastern African region, UNEP, page 36:

     The abundance of cliffed coasts around the world reflects the major changes that have taken place between relative levels of land and sea in recent geological times.

   • 2003, J. McKee Smith, Coastal engineering 2002: solving coastal conundrums : proceedings of the 28th International Conference, 7-12 July 2002, Cardiff, Wales, World Scientific, page 662:

     In the case of a cliffed marsh edge, wave heights increase at the edge but are dissipated rapidly in the first 10-20m landward of the cliff.

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: kl?f, IPA^(key): /kl?f/, [kl???f]
• Rhymes: -?f

Etymology 1

From Middle English clyf, from Old English clif, from Proto-Germanic *klib?.

Noun

cliff (plural cliffs)

1. A vertical (or nearly vertical) rock face.

   Synonym: precipice

   Hyponym: escarpment

   Coordinate term: bluff

2. (figuratively) A point where something abruptly fails or decreases in value etc.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

cliff (plural cliffs)

1. (music) Obsolete form of clef.

Further reading

• cliff on Wikipedia.Wikipedia