Geosynclinal

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The downward bend or subsidence of the Earth's crust, which permits the gradual accumulation of sediment and hence forms the first step in the formation of a mountain range.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of the Earth's crust, bending downward or subsiding and permitting the gradual accumulation of sediment.

Etymology

From geo- + synclinal.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.