Adjacent Words

Cleave definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CLEAVE, v.i.
1. To stick; to adhere; to hold to.
My bones cleave to my skin. Psalms 102.
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. Psalms 137.
Cleave to that which is good. Romans 12.
2. To unite aptly; to fit; to sit well on.
3. To unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to adhere with strong attachment.
A man shall leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife. Genesis 2. Math. 19.
Cleave to Jehovah your God. Josh 23.
CLEAVE, v.t.
1. To part or divide by force; to split or rive; to open or serve the cohering parts of a body, by cutting or by the application of force; as, to cleave wood; to cleave a rock; to cleave the flood. Psalms 74.
2. To part or open naturally.
Every beast that cleaveth the cleft into two claws. Deutoronomy 14.
CLEAVE, v.i. To part; to open; to crack; to separate, as parts of cohering bodies; as, the ground cleaves by frost.
The mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof. Zechariah 14.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument; "cleave the bone" [syn: cleave, split, rive]
2: make by cutting into; "The water is going to cleave a channel into the rock"
3: 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" [syn: cling, cleave, adhere, stick, cohere]

Merriam Webster's

I. intransitive verb (cleaved or clove; also clave; cleaved; cleaving) Etymology: Middle English clevien, from Old English clifian; akin to Old High German kleben to stick Date: before 12th century to adhere firmly and closely or loyally and unwaveringly Synonyms: see stick II. verb (cleaved; also cleft or clove; cleaved; also cleft or cloven; cleaving) Etymology: Middle English cleven, from Old English cl?ofan; akin to Old Norse klj?fa to split, Latin glubere to peel, Greek glyphein to carve Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to divide by or as if by a cutting blow ; split 2. to separate into distinct parts and especially into groups having divergent views 3. to subject to chemical cleavage <a protein cleaved by an enzyme> intransitive verb 1. to split especially along the grain 2. to penetrate or pass through something by or as if by cutting Synonyms: see tear

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v. (past clove or cleft or cleaved; past part. cloven or cleft or cleaved) literary 1 a tr. chop or break apart, split, esp. along the grain or the line of cleavage. b intr. come apart in this way. 2 tr. make one's way through (air or water). Derivatives: cleavable adj. Etymology: OE cleofan f. Gmc 2. v.intr. (past cleaved or clave) (foll. by to) literary stick fast; adhere. Etymology: OE cleofian, clifian f. WG: cf. CLAY

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cleave 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cleave 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cleave 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cleaves, cleaving) Note: The past tense can be either 'cleaved' or 'clove'; the past participle can be 'cleaved', 'cloven', or 'cleft' for meaning 1, and is 'cleaved' for meaning 2. 1. To cleave something means to split or divide it into two separate parts, often violently. (LITERARY) They just cleave the stone along the cracks. = split VERB: V n 2. If someone cleaves to something or to someone else, they begin or continue to have strong feelings of loyalty towards them. (FORMAL) She has cleaved to these principles all her life... VERB: V to n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

klev: Is used in the Bible in two different senses:

(1) baqa` "to split," or "to rend." We are told that Abraham "clave the wood for the burnt-offering" (Ge 22:3), and that "they clave the wood of the cart" (1Sa 6:14). The Psalmist speaks of Yahweh cleaving fountain and flood (Ps 74:15), and the plowman cleaving the earth (Ps 141:7). For other examples see Jud 15:19; Ec 10:9; Ps 78:15; Hab 3:9.

(2) dabhaq; kollao, "to adhere to," or "to join one's self to." This meaning is the reverse of the preceding. The Psalmist speaks of his tongue cleaving to the roof of his mouth (Ps 137:6). We are told that a man should cleave unto his wife (Ge 2:24; Mt 19:5). It is said that Ru clave unto her mother-in-law (Ru 1:14), and that certain men clave unto Paul (Ac 17:34; compare Ac 4:23; 11:23 margin).

"Cleave" is also used in this sense to describe one's adherence to principles. Paul admonished the Romans to cleave to that which is good (Ro 12:9).

A. W. Fortune

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Adhere, cohere, stick, hold, cling, be attached, united or joined. 2. Attach one's self, unite one's self, take the side (of), take sides (with), take part (with). 3. Remain devoted to, be devoted to, be true to, cling. 4. Separate, divide, part, open, split, crack, be divided, sunder, be sundered, sever, be severed. II. v. a. Split, rive, rend, sever, sunder, cut or hew asunder, tear asunder.

Moby Thesaurus

accelerate, activate, adhere, adhere to, agglomerate, amputate, associate, atomize, ax, bifurcate, bisect, bite, bombard, branch, breach, break, break to pieces, broach, bunch, butcher, by two, carve, check, chink, chop, clasp, cleave to, clench, clinch, cling, cling to, clip, clot, cluster, clutch, coagulate, cohere, combine, congeal, conglomerate, conjoin, crack, crevasse, cross-bombard, cut, cut apart, cut away, cut in two, cut off, cut open, demolish, dichotomize, dimidiate, disassemble, disintegrate, dismantle, dispart, dissect, dissever, ditch, divaricate, divide, divorce, embrace, excise, fission, fissure, fly open, fork, fracture, fragment, freeze to, furrow, gap, gash, grapple, grasp, grip, gripe, groove, grow together, hack, halve, hang on, hang on to, hang together, hew, hold, hold fast, hold on, hold on to, hold tight, hold together, hug, in half, incise, jigsaw, join, keep hold of, lance, lay open, link, make mincemeat of, mass, never let go, nip, nucleize, ope, open, open up, pare, part, persist, pick to pieces, prune, pull in pieces, pull to pieces, pulverize, ramify, reduce to rubble, rend, rent, rift, rip, rive, rupture, saw, scissor, separate, set, sever, shatter, slash, slice, slit, slot, smash, smash the atom, snip, solidify, split, split in two, spread, spread out, spring open, stay, stay put, stick, stick to, stick together, subdivide, sunder, swing open, take apart, take hold of, tap, tear, tear apart, tear open, tear to pieces, tear to shreds, tear to tatters, throw open, total, transect, trench, unbuild, undo, unite, unmake, whittle, wrack up, wreck