Definitions for: Cleave


[v] come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation; "The dress clings to her body"; "The label stuck to the box"; "The sushi rice grains cohere"
[v] separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument; "cleave the bone"
[v] make by cutting into; "The water is going to cleave a channel into the rock"



Webster (1913) Definition: Cleave (kl[=e]v), v. i. [imp. Cleaved (kl[=e]vd),
Clave (kl[=a]v, Obs.); p. p. Cleaved; p. pr. & vb. n.
Cleaving.] [OE. cleovien, clivien, cliven, AS. cleofian,
clifian; akin to OS. klib[=o]n, G. kleben, LG. kliven, D.
kleven, Dan. kl[ae]be, Sw. klibba, and also to G. kleiben to
cleve, paste, Icel. kl[=i]fa to climb. Cf. Climb.]
1. To adhere closely; to stick; to hold fast; to cling.

My bones cleave to my skin. --Ps. cii. 5.

The diseases of Egypt . . . shall cleave unto thee.
--Deut.
xxviii. 60.

Sophistry cleaves close to and protects Sin's rotten
trunk, concealing its defects. --Cowper.

2. To unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to
adhere with strong attachment.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. --Gen. ii.
24.

Cleave unto the Lord your God. --Josh. xxiii.
8.

3. To fit; to be adapted; to assimilate. [Poetic.]

New honors come upon him, Like our strange garments,
cleave not to their mold But with the aid of use.
--Shak.


Cleave (kl[=e]v), v. t. [imp. Cleft (kl[e^]ft),
Clave (kl[=a]v, Obs.), Clove (kl[=o]v, Obsolescent); p.
p. Cleft, Cleaved (kl[=e]vd) or Cloven (kl[=o]"v'n); p.
pr. & vb. n. Cleaving.] [OE. cleoven, cleven, AS.
cle['o]fan; akin to OS. klioban, D. klooven, G. klieben,
Icel. klj[=u]fa, Sw. klyfva, Dan. kl["o]ve and prob. to Gr.
gly`fein to carve, L. glubere to peel. Cf. Cleft.]
1. To part or divide by force; to split or rive; to cut.

O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. --Shak.

2. To part or open naturally; to divide.

Every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the
cleft into two claws. --Deut. xiv.
6.


Cleave, v. i.
To part; to open; to crack; to separate; as parts of bodies;
as, the ground cleaves by frost.

The Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst. --Zech.
xiv. 4.

Synonyms: adhere, cling, cohere, rive, split, stick

See Also: adjoin, agglutinate, attach, conglutinate, contact, create, cut, laminate, make, maul, meet, mold, tear, touch

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