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7 dictionary results for: Cleavage

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

cleav·age

[klee-vij] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the act of cleaving or splitting.

2.	the state of being cleft.

3.	the area between a woman's breasts, esp. when revealed by a low-cut neckline.

4.	a critical division in opinion, beliefs, interests, etc., as leading to opposition between two groups: a growing cleavage between the Conservative and Liberal wings of the party.

5.	the tendency of crystals, certain minerals, rocks, etc., to break in preferred directions so as to yield more or less smooth surfaces (cleavage planes).

6.	Embryology. the total or partial division of the egg into smaller cells or blastomeres.

7.	Also called scission. Chemistry. the breaking down of a molecule or compound into simpler structures.

[Origin: 1810–20; cleave² + -age

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

cleav·age (klē'vĭj) Pronunciation Key
n.

The act of splitting or cleaving.
The state of being split or cleft; a fissure or division.
Mineralogy The splitting or tendency to split of a crystallized substance along definite crystalline planes, yielding smooth surfaces.
Embryology
1. The series of mitotic cell divisions that produces a blastula from a fertilized ovum. It is the basis of the multicellularity of complex organisms. Also called segmentation.
2. Any single cell division in such a series.
Chemistry The splitting of a complex molecule, such as a polysaccharide, into simpler molecules.
Informal The hollow between a woman's breasts, especially as revealed by a low neckline.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

cleavage
noun
1.	the state of being split or cleft; "there was a cleavage between the liberal and conservative members"
2.	the breaking of a chemical bond in a molecule resulting in smaller molecules
3.	(embryology) the repeated division of a fertilised ovum
4.	the line formed by a groove between two parts (especially the separation between a woman's breasts)
5.	the act of cleaving or splitting

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

cleavage (klē'vĭj) Pronunciation Key

Geology The breaking of certain minerals along specific planes, making smooth surfaces. These surfaces are parallel to the faces of the molecular crystals that make up the minerals. A mineral that exhibits cleavage breaks into smooth pieces with the same pattern of parallel surfaces regardless of how many times it is broken. Some minerals, like quartz, do not have a cleavage and break into uneven pieces with rough surfaces.
1. Biology The series of mitotic cell divisions by which a single fertilized egg cell becomes a many-celled blastula. Each division produces cells half the size of the parent cell.
2. Any of the single cell divisions in such a series.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
cleavage

The process by which an animal cell divides into two daughter cells after mitosis. In an embryo, this process is repeated many times and leads to the formation of the blastula.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

cleavage cleav·age (klē'vĭj)
n.

A series of cell divisions in the ovum immediately following fertilization. Also called segmentation.
The splitting of a complex molecule into two or more simpler molecules. Also called scission.
The linear clefts in the skin, indicating the general direction of the fibers in the dermis.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Cleavage

Cleav"age\, n. 1. The act of cleaving or splitting.

2. (Crystallog.) The quality possessed by many crystallized substances of splitting readily in one or more definite directions, in which the cohesive attraction is a minimum, affording more or less smooth surfaces; the direction of the dividing plane; a fragment obtained by cleaving, as of a diamond. See Parting.

3. (Geol.) Division into lamin[ae], like slate, with the lamination not necessarily parallel to the plane of deposition; -- usually produced by pressure.

Basal cleavage, cleavage parallel to the base of a crystal, or to the plane of the lateral axes.

Cell cleavage (Biol.), multiplication of cells by fission. See Segmentation.

Cubic cleavage, cleavage parallel to the faces of a cube.

Diagonal cleavage, cleavage parallel to ta diagonal plane.

Egg clavage. (Biol.) See Segmentation.

Lateral cleavage, cleavage parallel to the lateral planes.

Octahedral, Dodecahedral, or Rhombohedral, {cleavage, cleavage parallel to the faces of an octahedron, dodecahedron, or rhombohedron.

Prismatic cleavage, cleavage parallel to a vertical prism.

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