cleave

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

cleave, v. i. [OE. cleovien, clivien, cliven, AS. cleofian, clifian; akin to OS. klibōn, G. kleben, LG. kliven, D. kleven, Dan. klæbe, Sw. klibba, and also to G. kleiben to cleve, paste, Icel. klīfa to climb. Cf. Climb.].

•  To adhere closely; to stick; to hold fast; to cling.  [1913 Webster]

  "My bones cleave to my skin."  [1913 Webster]

  "The diseases of Egypt . . . shall cleave unto thee."  [1913 Webster]

  "Sophistry cleaves close to and protects
  Sin's rotten trunk, concealing its defects."  [1913 Webster]
•  To unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to adhere with strong attachment.  [1913 Webster]

  "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife."  [1913 Webster]

  "Cleave unto the Lord your God."  [1913 Webster]
•  To fit; to be adapted; to assimilate.  [1913 Webster]

  "New honors come upon him,
  Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mold
  But with the aid of use."  [1913 Webster]

cleave, v. t. [OE. cleoven, cleven, AS. cleófan; akin to OS. klioban, D. klooven, G. klieben, Icel. kljūfa, Sw. klyfva, Dan. klöve and prob. to Gr. gly`fein to carve, L. glubere to peel. Cf. Cleft.].

•  To part or divide by force; to split or rive; to cut.  [1913 Webster]

  "O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain."  [1913 Webster]
•  To part or open naturally; to divide.  [1913 Webster]

  "Every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws."  [1913 Webster]

cleave, v. i. 

 To part; to open; to crack; to separate; as parts of bodies; as, the ground cleaves by frost.  [1913 Webster]
"The Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

cleave, 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).

Derivative

cleavable adj.

cleave, v.intr. (past cleaved or clave) (foll. by to) literary stick fast; adhere.

Etymology

OE cleofian, clifian f. WG: cf. CLAY

THESAURUS

cleave

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

ROGET THESAURUS

cleave

Disjunction

VB be disjoined, come off, fall off, come to pieces, fall to pieces, peel off, get loose, disjoin, disconnect, disengage, disunite, dissociate, dispair, divorce, part, dispart, detach, separate, cut off, rescind, segregate, set apart, keep apart, insulate, isolate, throw out of gear, cut adrift, loose, unloose, undo, unbind, unchain, unlock, unpack, unravel, disentangle, set free, sunder, divide, subdivide, sever, dissever, abscind, circumcise, cut, incide, incise, saw, snip, nib, nip, cleave, rive, rend, slit, split, splinter, chip, crack, snap, break, tear, burst, rend, rend asunder, rend in twain, wrench, rupture, shatter, shiver, cranch, crunch, craunch, chop, cut up, rip up, hack, hew, slash, whittle, haggle, hackle, discind, lacerate, scamble, mangle, gash, hash, slice, cut up, carve, dissect, anatomize, dislimb, take to pieces, pull to pieces, pick to pieces, tear to pieces, tear to tatters, tear piecemeal, tear limb from limb, divellicate, skin, disintegrate, dismember, disbranch, disband, disperse, dislocate, disjoint, break up, mince, comminute, apportion, part, part company, separate, leave.

Coherence

VB cohere, adhere, stick, cling, cleave, hold, take hold of, hold fast, close with, clasp, hug, grow together, hang together, twine round, stick like a leech, stick like wax, stick close, cling like ivy, cling like a bur, adhere like a remora, adhere like Dejanira's shirt, glue, agglutinate, conglutinate, cement, lute, paste, gum, solder, weld, cake, consolidate, agglomerate.