riving

Variant of rive

transitive verb rived, rived or riven, riving

  1. to tear apart; rend
  2. to split; cleave
  3. to break or dismay (the heart, spirit, etc.)

Origin: ME riven < ON rifa < IE base *rei-, to tear, slit > rift, reap, row

intransitive verb

to be or become rived
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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