downthrow

noun — 2 senses

downthrow

noun

Etymology From down + throw.

1

Defeat; ruin.

  • These continued, led to the downthrow of the Russian expedition. The French, however, nothing daunted, pushed on, and arrived near Moscow […]1821, William Oxberry, The flowers of literature, or, Encyclopædia of anecdote:
2

Geography, Geology, Natural sciences A depression of the strata on one side of a fault; also, the degree of downward displacement in such a fault.

  • The geology at the site is mainly sandstone and shale overlaid with boulder clay, and is extremely confused. The ground is badly faulted, and at Micklam [Point], near Whitehaven, there is a downthrow of 480 ft.1955 July, “Storm Damage Repairs in Furness and West Cumberland”, in Railway Magazine, page 470:
Related terms
downthrown

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.