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cleft

 - 11 dictionary results

cleft

1  [kleft]
Use cleft in a Sentence
–noun
1. a space or opening made by cleavage; a split.
2. a division formed by cleaving.
3. a hollow area or indentation: a chin with a cleft.
4. Veterinary Pathology. a crack on the bend of the pastern of a horse.
Origin:
1300–50; ME clift, OE (ge)clyft split, cracked; c. OHG, ON kluft; akin to cleave 2

Synonyms:
1. fissure, crevice, crack, rift, cranny, chasm, crevasse.

cleft

2  [kleft]
–verb
1. a pt. and pp. of cleave 2 .
–adjective
2. cloven; split; divided.
3. (of a leaf, corolla, lobe, or other expanded plant part) having divisions formed by incisions or narrow sinuses that extend more than halfway to the midrib or the base.
Origin:
see cleft 1

cleave

1  [kleev]
–verb (used without object), cleaved or (Archaic) clave; cleaved; cleav⋅ing.
1. to adhere closely; stick; cling (usually fol. by to).
2. to remain faithful (usually fol. by to): to cleave to one's principles in spite of persecution.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME cleven, OE cleofian, c. OHG klebēn (G kleben)

Related forms:
cleav⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

cleave

2  [kleev] verb, cleft or cleaved or clove, cleft or cleaved or clo⋅ven, cleav⋅ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to split or divide by or as if by a cutting blow, esp. along a natural line of division, as the grain of wood.
2. to make by or as if by cutting: to cleave a path through the wilderness.
3. to penetrate or pass through (air, water, etc.): The bow of the boat cleaved the water cleanly.
4. to cut off; sever: to cleave a branch from a tree.
–verb (used without object)
5. to part or split, esp. along a natural line of division.
6. to penetrate or advance by or as if by cutting (usually fol. by through).
Origin:
bef. 950; ME cleven, OE clēofan, c. OHG klioban (G klieben), ON kljūfa; akin to Gk glýphein to carve, L glūbere to peel

Synonyms:
1. halve, rend, rive.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To cleft
cleave 1   (klēv)   
v.   cleft (klěft) or cleaved or clove (klōv), cleft or cleaved or clo·ven (klō'vən), cleav·ing, cleaves

v.   tr.

  1. To split with or as if with a sharp instrument. See Synonyms at tear1.

  2. To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting: cleave a path through the ice.

  3. To pierce or penetrate: The wings cleaved the foggy air.

  4. Chemistry To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.

v.   intr.

  1. Mineralogy To split or separate, especially along a natural line of division.

  2. To penetrate or pass through something, such as water or air.


[Middle English cleven, from Old English clēofan; see gleubh- in Indo-European roots.]
cleav'a·ble adj.
cleft   (klěft)   
v.  A past tense and a past participle of cleave1.
adj.  

  1. Divided; split.

  2. Botany Having indentations that extend about halfway to the center, as in certain leaves.

n.  

  1. A crack, crevice, or split.

  2. A split or indentation between two parts, as of the chin.


[Middle English, past participle of cleven, to split; see cleave1. N., from Middle English, alteration (influenced by cleft) of clift, from Old English geclyft; see gleubh- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

cleave  (1)
"to split," O.E. cleofan "to split, separate" (class II strong verb, past tense cleaf, past participle clofen), from P.Gmc. *kleubanan, from PIE base *gleubh- "to cut, slice." The old, strong p.t. clave was still alive at the time of the King James Bible; and the p.p. cloven survives, though mostly in compounds. Cleavage in geology is from 1816. The sense of "cleft between a woman's breasts in low-cut clothing" is first recorded 1946, when it was defined in a "Time" magazine article as the "Johnston Office trade term for the shadowed depression dividing an actress' bosom into two distinct sections" [Aug. 5].

cleft 
O.E. geclyft (adj.) "split, cloven," spelling infl. by cleft, new weak pp. of cleave (1), from P.Gmc. *kluftis.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: cleave
Pronunciation: 'klEv
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: cleaved; cleav·ing
: to subject to chemicalcleavage cleaved by an enzyme>

Main Entry: cleft
Pronunciation: 'kleft
Function: noun
1 : a usually abnormal fissure or opening especially when resulting from failure of parts tofuse during embryonic development
2 : a usually V-shaped indented formation : a hollow between ridges or protuberances cleft of the human body>
3 : the hollow space between the two branches of the frog or the frog and bars or between the bulbs of the heel of a horse's hoof
4 : a crack on the bend of thepastern of a horse
5 : a division of the cleft foot of an animal
6 : SYNAPTICCLEFT
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

cleft (klěft)
n.
A split or fissure between two parts.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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