# cliff

Pronunciation: say "KLIF" /klɪf/

## Noun

1. A face of rock that rises vertically, or very nearly so, from the ground around it.
   - Simple: A tall wall of rock that drops down steeply, often where land meets water.
   - _Climbers spent the morning scaling the sheer cliff above the bay._
   - _Erosion had carved dramatic cliffs along the entire coastline._
2. A point beyond which something abruptly fails or sharply drops in value or performance.
   - Simple: A point where something suddenly fails or quickly loses its value.
   - _Economists warned that ending the subsidies overnight could push exports off a cliff._
   - _User engagement fell off a cliff the moment the paywall went up._

## Noun

3. Obsolete form of clef. *(obsolete)* — Obsolete form of clef.
   - Simple: Obsolete form of clef. This is an old spelling of the music sign that shows pitch.

## Origin

From Middle English 'clyf', from Old English 'clif', from Proto-West Germanic '*klib' and Proto-Germanic '*klibą'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cliff (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).