Avulsion

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Avulsion \A*vul"sion\, n. [L. avulsio.]
     1. A tearing asunder; a forcible separation.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The avulsion of two polished superficies. --Locke.
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     2. A fragment torn off. --J. Barlow.
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     3. (Law) The sudden removal of lands or soil from the estate
        of one man to that of another by an inundation or a
        current, or by a sudden change in the course of a river by
        which a part of the estate of one man is cut off and
        joined to the estate of another. The property in the part
        thus separated, or cut off, continues in the original
        owner. --Wharton. Burrill.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  avulsion
       n 1: an abrupt change in the course of a stream that forms the
            boundary between two parcels of land resulting in the
            loss of part of the land of one landowner and a
            consequent increase in the land of another
       2: a forcible tearing or surgical separation of one body part
          from another

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  AVULSION. Where, by the immediate and manifest power of a river or stream,
  the soil is taken suddenly from one man's estate and carried to another. In
  such case the property belongs to the first owner. An acquiescence on his
  part, however, will in time entitle the owner of the land to which it is
  attached to claim it as his own. Bract. 221; Harg. Tracts, De jure maris,
  &c. Toull. Dr. Civ. Fr. tom. 3, p. 106; 2. Bl. Com. 262; Schultes on Aq.
  Rights, 115 to 138. Avulsion differs from alluvion (q.v.) in this, that in
  the latter case the change of the soil is gradual and imperceptible.