<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>an opening made by splitting, cleaving, etc.; fissure; cleft; chink.</li><li>an open space, as in a forest or cloud mass, or a clear interval.</li><li>a break in friendly relations: a rift between two people; a rift between two nations.</li><li>Synonyms: estrangement, falling-out, rupture, breach.</li><li>a difference in opinion, belief, or interest that causes such a break in friendly relations.</li><li>Geology: a fault.</li><li>a graben of regional extent.</li><li>the plane or direction along which a log or mass of granite can most easily be split.</li><li>wood or a piece of wood that has been split radially from a log.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong> (used with or without object)</p><ul><li>to burst open; split.</li></ul>