Meaning & use
tectonic plate
One of the large, rigid sections of the Earth's crust that move slowly over the layer beneath them.
See it in a sentence
Earthquakes often occur along the boundary where two tectonic plates grind against each other.
The mountain range formed as one tectonic plate slowly pushed into another over millions of years.
A note on using this word
"Tectonic" alone often describes large-scale structural change, as in "a tectonic shift" in politics or culture.
Words with a similar meaning
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