Meaning & use
clifftops
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“clifftops” is a form of “clifftop”.
Meanings
nounplural
The flat or gently sloping ground along the top edge of a cliff, or the cliffs themselves seen as a line.
Grammar: Plural noun; it names more than one clifftop or a stretch of them. The singular is "clifftop": one clifftop, two clifftops.
Patterns
- the clifftops
- along the clifftops
- on the clifftops
We parked the car and walked for miles along the clifftops.
From the clifftops you can watch fishing boats come into the bay.
Several small hotels sit right on the clifftops above the beach.
nounplural
The top surface of a single cliff.
Grammar: The plural of "clifftop"; use it when you are counting or pointing to more than one such place.
Patterns
- two clifftops
- the clifftops of something
The two clifftops are joined by a narrow footbridge.
Erosion has left the clifftops dangerously close to the road.
Word forms
| singular | clifftop |
|---|
Common combinations
- walk along the clifftops
- We walked along the clifftops at sunset.
- on the clifftops
- There is a lighthouse on the clifftops near the harbor.
- the clifftops above something
- The clifftops above the village are a popular spot for photos.
- clifftop path
- The clifftop path is closed after heavy rain.
- clifftop view
- The clifftop view stretches for miles.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cliff edge
- Use this when you mean the very brink where the rock drops away, not the wider area on top.
- headland
- A headland is a piece of land jutting into the sea; its top may be called clifftops, but the word stresses the shape of the coast.
Word family
- clifftop noun
- The singular form: the top of one cliff, often used before another noun.
- cliff noun
- The steep rock face itself, from top to bottom.
- cliffside noun
- The sloping or vertical side of a cliff, rather than its top.
Commonly confused: clifftops or cliffhanger?
clifftops vs cliffhanger
A cliffhanger is an exciting, unresolved ending to a story, not a place on a cliff.
Practice
Which sentence uses "clifftops" correctly?
Choose one answer.
"Clifftops" means the ground along the top of cliffs, so you walk along them and look out. Option 0 is wrong because you climb down a cliff face, not down the clifftops; option 2 describes the cliff itself collapsing, which would normally be "the cliffs"; option 3 makes no sense because clifftops are places, not objects.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “clifftops”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.