English

Verb

cleave ‎(third-person singular simple present cleaves, present participle cleaving, simple past cleft or clove or (UK) cleaved or (archaic) clave, past participle cleft or cloven or (UK) cleaved)

1. (transitive) To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.

   The wings cleaved the foggy air.

   • Shakespeare

     O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.

2. (transitive, mineralogy) To break a single crystal (such as a gemstone or semiconductor wafer) along one of its more symmetrical crystallographic planes (often by impact), forming facets on the resulting pieces.
3. (transitive) To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting.

   The truck cleaved a path through the ice.

4. (transitive, chemistry) To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.
5. (intransitive) To split.
6. (intransitive, mineralogy) Of a crystal, to split along a natural plane of division.

Translations

Noun

cleave ‎(plural cleaves)

1. (technology) Flat, smooth surface produced by cleavage, or any similar surface produced by similar techniques, as in glass.

Related terms

• cleavage
• cleft

Derived terms

• cleaver

Etymology 2

From Old English cleofian, from Proto-Germanic *klibjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gleybʰ- ‎(“to stick”). Cognates include German kleben, Dutch kleven.

Verb

cleave ‎(third-person singular simple present cleaves, present participle cleaving, simple past and past participle cleaved)

1. (intransitive) To cling, adhere or stick fast to something; used with to or unto.

References

• cleave in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• cleave in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913