horst

German Horst (“heap”).

• IPA^(key): /hɔːst/

horst (plural horsts)

1. (geology) An area of the earth's surface which is raised relative to surrounding land.
   • 1927, George Rogers Mansfield, Geography, Geology, and Mineral Resources of Part of Southeastern Idaho, U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 152, page 390,

     The classic example has been the Rhine Valley graben with the Vosges Mountains and the Schwarzwald as adjacent horsts.

   • 1963, F. Geukens, S. D. Bowers (translator), Geology of the Arabian Peninsula: Yemen, U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 560-B, page B19,

     Innumerable faults, in fact, cut through the country, many bounding secondary grabens and horsts.

   • 1968, Anthony Burgess, Enderby Outside, page 83:

     Your body is a horst and mine a graben, because horst is the opposite of graben.

   • 2011, James Petersen, Dorothy Sack, Robert Gabler, Physical Geography, 10th Edition, page 393,

     Horsts and grabens are rock structural features that are identified by the nature of the offset of rock units along normal faults; topographically, horsts form mountain ranges and grabens form basins.

• (area of earth's surface raised relative to surrounding land): graben

• Short, Stohr, hotrs, short, thors, trosh

Cognate with English horst and German Horst (“horst; eyrie”).

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horst f (plural horsten, diminutive horstje n)

1. (geology) an area of the earth's surface which is raised relative to surrounding land; a horst
2. an elevated land overgrown with shrub
3. a nest of a bird of prey; an eyrie