cleavage - Definitions from Dictionary.com

8 results for: cleavage

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

cleav·age

Audio Help [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.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
cleavage

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

cleav·age Audio Help (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.

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

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ˈcleavage1 [-vidʒ] noun

the act of splitting; a split

Arabic:	فَلْق، انْشِقاق
Chinese (Simplified):	劈开
Chinese (Traditional):	劈開
Czech:	štípání; prasklina
Danish:	kløvning; spaltning
Dutch:	scheuring
Estonian:	lõhenemine, lõhe
Finnish:	halkeaminen, halkeama, halkio
French:	clivage
German:	die Spaltung
Greek:	σκίσιμο, χώρισμα
Hungarian:	hasítás
Icelandic:	klofningur
Indonesian:	belahan
Italian:	divisione

Japanese:	裂け目
Korean:	쪼개짐
Latvian:	šķelšana; šķelšanās
Lithuanian:	skilimas
Norwegian:	kløyving, spalting, splittelse; kløft
Polish:	rozcięcie
Portuguese (Brazil):	clivagem, cisão
Portuguese (Portugal):	divisão
Romanian:	despicare; scindare
Russian:	раскалывание
Slovak:	prasklina, puklina
Slovenian:	(raz)cepitev
Spanish:	división
Swedish:	klyvning
Turkish:	yar(ıl)ma, böl(ün)me

ˈcleavage2 [-vidʒ] noun

the split between a woman's breasts

Arabic:	إنْفِلاع بين ثَديَي المرأه
Chinese (Simplified):	乳沟
Chinese (Traditional):	乳溝
Czech:	rýha mezi ňadry, dekolt
Danish:	kløft; kavalérgang
Estonian:	rindade vahe(line joon)
Greek:	χώρισμα γυναικείου στήθους
Hungarian:	dekoltázs
Indonesian:	belahan payudara
Italian:	solco (tra i seni di una donna)*

Latvian:	(sievietes krūšu) bedrīte
Lithuanian:	tarpas tarp krūtų
Norwegian:	kløften mellom brystene; utringning
Polish:	dekolt
Russian:	ложбинка на груди
Slovak:	záňadrie
Slovenian:	``grabenček'' med dojkama
Spanish:	escote
Swedish:	klyfta, fördjupning
Turkish:	(kadınlarda) memeler arasındaki oluk

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

cleavage Audio Help (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.

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.

[Chapter:] Life Sciences

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

Cleavage

Ba"sal\, a. Relating to, or forming, the base.

Basal cleavage. See under Cleavage.

Basal plane (Crystallog.), one parallel to the lateral or horizontal axis.

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