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  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fault  \Fault\,  n. 
  1.  (Elec.)  A  defective  point  in  an  electric  circuit  due  to  a 
  crossing  of  the  parts  of  the  conductor,  or  to  contact  with 
  another  conductor  or  the  earth,  or  to  a  break  in  the 
  circuit. 
 
  2.  (Geol.  &  Mining)  A  dislocation  caused  by  a  slipping  of 
  rock  masses  along  a  plane  of  facture;  also  the  dislocated 
  structure  resulting  from  such  slipping. 
 
  Note:  The  surface  along  which  the  dislocated  masses  have 
  moved  is  called  the 
 
  {fault  plane}.  When  this  plane  is  vertical,  the  fault  is  a 
 
  {vertical  fault};  when  its  inclination  is  such  that  the 
  present  relative  position  of  the  two  masses  could  have 
  been  produced  by  the  sliding  down  along  the  fault  plane, 
  of  the  mass  on  its  upper  side  the  fault  is  a 
 
  {normal},  or  {gravity},  {fault}.  When  the  fault  plane  is  so 
  inclined  that  the  mass  on  its  upper  side  has  moved  up 
  relatively,  the  fault  is  then  called  a 
 
  {reverse}  (or  {reversed}),  {thrust},  or  {overthrust}, 
  {fault}.  If  no  vertical  displacement  has  resulted,  the  fault 
  is  then  called  a 
 
  {horizontal  fault}.  The  linear  extent  of  the  dislocation 
  measured  on  the  fault  plane  and  in  the  direction  of 
  movement  is  the 
 
  {displacement};  the  vertical  displacement  is  the 
 
  {throw};  the  horizontal  displacement  is  the 
 
  {heave}.  The  direction  of  the  line  of  intersection  of  the 
  fault  plane  with  a  horizontal  plane  is  the 
 
  {trend}  of  the  fault.  A  fault  is  a 
 
  {strike  fault}  when  its  trend  coincides  approximately  with 
  the  strike  of  associated  strata  (i.e.,  the  line  of 
  intersection  of  the  plane  of  the  strata  with  a  horizontal 
  plane);  it  is  a 
 
  {dip  fault}  when  its  trend  is  at  right  angles  to  the  strike; 
  an 
 
  {oblique  fault}  when  its  trend  is  oblique  to  the  strike. 
  Oblique  faults  and  dip  faults  are  sometimes  called 
 
  {cross  faults}.  A  series  of  closely  associated  parallel 
  faults  are  sometimes  called 
 
  {step  faults}  and  sometimes 
 
  {distributive  faults}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Displacement  \Dis*place"ment\,  n.  [Cf.  F.  d['e]placement.] 
  1.  The  act  of  displacing,  or  the  state  of  being  displaced;  a 
  putting  out  of  place 
 
  Unnecessary  displacement  of  funds.  --A.  Hamilton. 
 
  The  displacement  of  the  sun  by  parallax.  --Whewell. 
 
  2.  The  quantity  of  anything  as  water,  displaced  by  a 
  floating  body,  as  by  a  ship,  the  weight  of  the  displaced 
  liquid  being  equal  to  that  of  the  displacing  body. 
 
  3.  (Chem.)  The  process  of  extracting  soluble  substances  from 
  organic  material  and  the  like  whereby  a  quantity  of 
  saturated  solvent  is  displaced,  or  removed,  for  another 
  quantity  of  the  solvent. 
 
  {Piston  displacement}  (Mech.),  the  volume  of  the  space  swept 
  through  or  weight  of  steam,  water,  etc.,  displaced,  in  a 
  given  time,  by  the  piston  of  a  steam  engine  or  pump. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  displacement 
  n  1:  act  of  taking  the  place  of  another  especially  using 
  underhanded  tactics  [syn:  {supplanting}] 
  2:  an  event  in  which  something  is  displaced  without  rotation 
  [syn:  {shift}] 
  3:  the  act  of  uniform  movement  [syn:  {translation}] 
  4:  act  of  removing  from  office  or  employment 

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