upthrust

[ uhp-thruhst ]

noun

1. a thrust in an upward direction.
2. a sudden and forceful upward movement, as of a nation's economy or the stock market:

   Market observers are hoping the upthrust can be sustained.

3. Geology. an upheaval.

verb (used without object)

1. to thrust upward:

   Frost caused the ground to upthrust.

upthrust

/ ˈʌpˌθrʌst /

noun

1. an upward push or thrust
2. geology a violent upheaval of the earth's surface

Word History and Origins

Origin of upthrust¹

First recorded in 1840–50; up- + thrust

Example Sentences

The dark hair is short, upthrust, much toyed with – a grown-out version of Salander’s punky undercut, which suits her but which the actor isn’t so enamoured of: “I’ve just got to patiently wait it out.”

From The Guardian

It looked like an enormous auger shell, or a unicorn’s horn upthrust from the earth, and was said to stand at over six hundred feet.

From Literature

Sam sprang in, inside the arches of her legs, and with a quick upthrust of his other hand stabbed at the clustered eyes upon her lowered head.

From Literature

"Mountain in a Cage," one of two large drawings here, has upthrusts and blossomings, striated fields of energy, power-bestowing rays, sweeps and swells of color, rises, pushes and pulls.

From Los Angeles Times

There is the “Rescue Team, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, UK,” standing atop the upthrust prow of a rescue boat while a yellow copter hovers overhead, dangling a rescued man on a wire.

From New York Times