Cleave Definition

klēv
cleaved, cleaves, cleaving, cleft, clove, cloven
verb
cleaved, cleaves, cleaving, cleft, clove, cloven
To split; separate; fall apart.
Webster's New World
To divide by a blow, as with an ax; split.
Webster's New World
To make one's way by or as by cutting.
Webster's New World
To adhere; cling (to)
Webster's New World
To pierce.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
noun

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

Wiktionary

Origin of Cleave

  • From Middle English cleven, from the Old English strong verb clēofan, from Proto-Germanic *kleubaną, from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to cut, to slice”). Cognate with Dutch klieven, dialectal German klieben, Swedish klyva, and Greek γλύφω (glýfo, “carve”).

    From Wiktionary

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

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English cleven from Old English clēofan gleubh- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English cleven from Old English cleofian

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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