[ad. L. āvulsiōn-em, n. of action f. āvuls-: see prec. and -ION.]
1. The action of pulling off, plucking out, or tearing away; forcible separation.
1622. Peacham, Compl. Gentl., viii. 69. By avulsion or division of the Sea … Sicily was divided and severed from Italy, Cyprus from Syria.
1708. J. Philips, Cyder, I. 24.
| The thronging Clusters thin | |
| By kind Avulsion. |
1775. T. Jefferson, Corr., Wks. 1859, I. 201. On condition of everlasting avulsion from Great Britain.
1822. Lamb, Lett., II. (1841), 22. Did the Eyes come away kindly with no Œdipean avulsion.
2. A part torn off, a detached portion.
1678. Cudworth, Intell. Syst., I. iv. § 25. 420. Certain parts of God, or decerptions and avulsions from Him.
1809. J. Barlow, Columb., VIII. 280. Crash your curst continent, and whirl on high The vast avulsion vaulting thro’ the sky.
3. Law. The sudden removal of land, by change in a river’s course or by the action of flood, to another person’s estate; in which case, contrary to the rule respecting alluvion or gradual accretion of soil, it remains the property of the original owner.
1864. in Webster.
1880. Muirhead, Gaius, 456. Alluvion … distinguished from avulsion.
