
verb (used with object), rived, rived or riv·en, riv·ing.
- to tear or rend apart: to rive meat from a bone.
- to separate by striking; split; cleave.
- to rend, harrow, or distress (the feelings, heart, etc.).
- to split (wood) radially from a log.
verb (used without object), rived, rived or riv·en, riv·ing.
- to become rent or split apart: stones that rive easily.
verb rives, riving, rived, rived or riven (ˈrɪvən) (usually passive)
- to split asundera tree riven by lightning
- to tear apartriven to shreds
- archaic to break (the heart) or (of the heart) to be broken
“tear in pieces, strike asunder,” c.1200, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse rifa “to tear apart” (cf. Swedish rifva, Danish rive “scratch, tear”), from PIE root *rei- “to scratch, tear, cut” (see riparian).