cleave

/ˈkliːv/

cleave verb: to split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.

Verb (1)

cleave (third-person singular simple present cleaves, present participle cleaving, simple past cleft or clove or (UK) cleaved or (archaic) clave, past participle cleft or clove or (UK) cleaved or (archaic) clave or cloven)

(transitive) To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.
- The wings clove the foggy air.
- Some clock clove with silver the stillness of the morning. Ere came the second stroke, another and nearer clock was striking. And now there were others chiming in. The air was confused with the sweet babel of its many spires, some of them booming deep, measured sequences, some tinkling impatiently...1911 October 26, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson, or, An Oxford Love Story, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, published 1912, →OCLC
Synonyms:

rive
(transitive) To break a single crystal (such as a gemstone or semiconductor wafer) along one of its more symmetrical crystallographic planes (often by impact), forming facets on the resulting pieces.
(transitive) To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting.
- The truck clove a path through the ice.
(transitive) (chemistry) To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.
(intransitive) To split.
- And it came to passe as he had made an ende of speaking all these words, that the ground claue asunder that was vnder them:1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 16:31
(intransitive) Of a crystal, to split along a natural plane of division.

Noun

cleave (plural cleaves)

Flat, smooth surface produced by cleavage, or any similar surface produced by similar techniques, as in glass.
A cut (slash) or a cut location, either naturally or artificially.
- There are very striking scenes on some of the lesser streams at this portion of their course. The deep gorge of the Lyd is famous. In the "cleaves," or cleft rocky valleys of Lustleigh and of the Tavy, many a long summer day may be spent with delight; and the Erme, which descends by Ivy Bridge, is...1876-1879, Picturesque Europe: With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Most Eminent Artists, Cassell, Petter, Galpin, page 213
- The valley by which the Taw leaves the Moor forms one of the cleaves that add so greatly to the attractions of the place, and this bears the same name as the parish.1905, William Crossing, Gems in a Granite Setting; Beauties of the Lone Land of Dartmoor, Plymouth Western Morning News Company, page 48

Verb (2)

cleave (third-person singular simple present cleaves, present participle cleaving, simple past and past participle cleaved)

(intransitive, rare) Followed by to or unto: to adhere, cling, or stick fast to something.
- And they lift vp their voyce, and wept againe: and Orpah kissed her mother in law, but Ruth claue vnto her.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ruth 1:14
- Neuerthelesse, hee cleaued vnto the sinnes of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat, which made Israel to sinne; he departed not therefrom.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Kings 3:3

Proper noun capitalized: Cleave

Cleave (usually uncountable, plural Cleaves)

(usually) A surname.
(usually) A hamlet in Offwell parish, East Devon district, Devon, England, divided into Upper and Lower Cleave (OS grid ref ST2000).

cleave meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

cleave in Tamil

கீள்வு, பிளவு

cleave in Urdu

علیحدہ کرنا, چیرنا, کاٹنا, پھاڑنا

cleave in Bengali

ভাগ করা, আঁকড়ে থাকা

cleave in Telugu

to cleave, adhere to, stick, stick as paste: అంటుకొను aṇṭukonu

More languagesFewer languages

cleave in Malayalam: കീറുക, പകുക്കുക, വേർപെടുത്തുക, ബലംപ്രയോഗിച്ച് അകറ്റുക
cleave in Kannada: ಬಗಿ, ಹೋಳು, ಸೀಳು, ಕತ್ತರಿಸು
cleave in Sanskrit: भिनत्ति bhinatti, तृन्त्ते tṛntte
cleave in Arabic: شَقَّ šaqqa, فَسَخَ fasaḵa, صَدَعَ ṣadaʕa, فَلَقَ falaqa
cleave in Malay: belah
cleave in Persian: شقه کردن šaqqe kardan

Examples of cleave in a sentence

In the "cleaves," or cleft rocky valleys of Lustleigh and of the Tavy, many a long summer day may be spent with delight; and the Erme, which descends by Ivy Bridge, is not less worthy of a pilgrimage.1876-1879, Picturesque Europe: With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Most Eminent Artists, Cassell, Petter, Galpin, page 213:
Yet not as therefore cruell things ſhould cleave / To gentle; not that vve ſhould Serpents ſee / VVith Doves; or Lambs vvith Tigres coupled be.a. 1638 (date written), Quintus Horatius Flaccus [i.e., Horace], translated by Ben Jonson, Q. Horatius Flaccus: His Art of Poetry. […]...
"I only know that I love thee as I never loved before, and that I will cleave to thee to the end."1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

All 18 example sentences with cleave

Synonyms of cleave

rive

Forms of cleave

Verb
third-person singular present	cleaves
present participle	cleaving
past	cleft
past	clove
past UK	cleaved
past participle	cleft
past participle	clove
past participle UK	cleaved
past participle	cloven
past participle	cleaved
past	cleaved
past (archaic)	clave
past participle (archaic)	clave
Noun
plural	cleaves
Proper noun
plural	Cleaves

Past tense of cleave: cleft or clove

Origin of cleave

From Middle English cleven, from the Old English strong verb clēofan (“to split, to separate”), from Proto-West Germanic *kleuban, from Proto-Germanic *kleubaną, from Proto-Indo-European *glewbʰ- (“to cut, to slice”). Doublet of clive. Cognate with Dutch klieven, dialectal German klieben, Swedish klyva, Norwegian Nynorsk kløyva; also Ancient Greek γλύφω (glúphō, “carve”).

From Middle English cleven, a conflation of two verbs: Old English clifian (from Proto-West Germanic *klibēn, from Proto-Germanic *klibāną) and Old English clīfan (from Proto-West Germanic *klīban, from Proto-Germanic *klībaną), both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gleybʰ- (“to stick”). Cognate with Dutch kleven, German kleben (“to stick”).

Words formed from cleave

Phrases with cleave

cleave gags

Words that rhyme with cleave

45 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cleave

What does cleave mean?: Cleave means to split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.
What is cleave in Tamil?: Cleave in Tamil is கீள்வு, பிளவு. See Cleave meaning in Tamil.
How do you use cleave in a sentence?: In the "cleaves," or cleft rocky valleys of Lustleigh and of the Tavy, many a long summer day may be spent with delight; and the Erme, which descends by Ivy Bridge, is not less worthy of a pilgrimage.
What part of speech is cleave?: Cleave can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce cleave?: Cleave is pronounced /ˈkliːv/.
What is the past tense of cleave?: The past tense of cleave is cleft.

Words near cleave in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-cleave.ogg.

Cite this entry: “cleave.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cleave. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.