cleaving

transitive verb cleaved or cleft or clove, cleaved or cleft or cloven, cleaving

1. to divide by a blow, as with an ax; split
2. to pierce
3. to sever; disunite

Origin: ME cleven < OE cleofan; akin to Ger klieben < IE base *gleubh-, to cut, slice > Gr glyphein, carve, L glubere, to peel

intransitive verb

1. to split; separate; fall apart
2. to make one's way by or as by cutting