cleft

¹ American  

[kleft] / klɛft /

noun

1. a space or opening made by cleavage; a split.

   Synonyms:

   crevasse , chasm , cranny , rift , crack , crevice , fissure

2. a division formed by cleaving. cleave.

3. a hollow area or indentation.

   a chin with a cleft.

4. Veterinary Pathology.  a crack on the bend of the pastern of a horse.

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cleft ² American  

[kleft] / klɛft /

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of cleave.

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adjective

1. cloven; cleave; cloven; split; divided.

2. (of a leaf, corolla, lobe, or other expanded plant part) having divisions formed by incisions or narrow sinuses that extend more than halfway to the midrib or the base.

cleft British  

/ klɛft /

verb

1. the past tense and a past participle of cleave 1

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noun

1. a fissure or crevice

2. an indentation or split in something, such as the chin, palate, etc

adjective

1. split; divided

2. (of leaves) having one or more incisions reaching nearly to the midrib

Etymology

Origin of cleft¹

1300–50; Middle English clift, Old English ( ge ) clyft split, cracked; cognate with Old High German, Old Norse kluft; akin to cleave ²

Origin of cleft¹

cleft ¹

Example Sentences

Reported problems include spina bifida, cleft palate, and a range of intellectual, communication, behavior and memory disorders.

From Science Daily

Waiting lists for gynae mesh, children's squints, children's feeding tubes and cleft lip will also be tackled.

From BBC

Tony Wilmott, a senior archaeologist for Historic England, said Sycamore Gap got its name in the 1980s from the tree in the cleft of the wall.

From BBC

She’s desperate to find a refuge for herself, “a cleft in the rock of the world” that she could hide in, as she tells him after her secrets have been exposed.

From Los Angeles Times

“It certainly happened to me,” said Schimberg, who has a cleft palate.

From Salon