cleavage

[klee-vij]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cleavage ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act of cleaving or splitting.

the state of being cleft.

the area between a woman's breasts, especially when revealed by a low-cut neckline.

a critical division in opinion, beliefs, interests, etc., as leading to opposition between two groups: a growing cleavage between the Conservative and Liberal wings of the party.

the tendency of crystals, certain minerals, rocks, etc., to break in preferred directions so as to yield more or less smooth surfaces (cleavage planes).

Embryology. the total or partial division of the egg into smaller cells or blastomeres.

Also called scission. Chemistry. the breaking down of a molecule or compound into simpler structures.

Origin of cleavage

First recorded in 1810–20; cleave² + -age

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cleavage

rift, schism, chasm, division, separation, severance, discontinuity, break, split, fracture, cleft, hole, valley, divide

Examples from the Web for cleavage

Contemporary Examples of cleavage

She wore a sea-green, V-necked frock with a modest hint of cleavage.
‘Outnumbered’: The Making of a Fox News Hit
Lloyd Grove
October 13, 2014
The camera lingers enough for us to glimpse her cleavage and a bit of her black bra.
‘Stalker’ Is an Awful Warning Against the Evils of Misogyny
Sujay Kumar
October 3, 2014
Try standing up to officialdom with that amount of cleavage brandished at you.
Ukraine’s Pro-Putin Rebels Prepare for a Last Stand
David Patrikarakos
July 10, 2014
Karley Sciortino leans forward, adjusting a microphone buried in her cleavage.
Is This Dildo-Licking, Dominatrix-Loving Vogue Blogger the New Face of Feminism?
Lizzie Crocker
May 22, 2014
The tangle of enormous fake diamonds resting on top of her cleavage sparkles at every flashbulb.
And The Escort of The Year Is… Backstage at The Sex Oscars
Scott Bixby
March 24, 2014

Historical Examples of cleavage

Mr. Carus-Wilson attributes this cleavage to unequal cooling of the mass.
The Book of the Damned
Charles Fort
The cleavage of slates then is not a question of stratification; what then is its cause?
Fragments of science, V. 1-2
John Tyndall
The cleavage of our hills is accidental cleavage, but this is cleavage with intention.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2
John Tyndall
But we cannot regard the cleavage of the tree as the same in character as that of the hayrick.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2
John Tyndall
The planes of cleavage stand in most cases at a high angle to the bedding.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2
John Tyndall

British Dictionary definitions for cleavage

cleavage

noun

informal the separation between a woman's breasts, esp as revealed by a low-cut dress

a division or split

(of crystals) the act of splitting or the tendency to split along definite planes so as to yield smooth surfaces

Also called: segmentation embryol (in animals) the repeated division of a fertilized ovum into a solid ball of cells (a morula), which later becomes hollow (a blastula)

the breaking of a chemical bond in a molecule to give smaller molecules or radicals

geology the natural splitting of certain rocks, or minerals such as slates, or micas along the planes of weakness

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cleavage

1816, in geology, "action of splitting (rocks or gems) along natural fissures," from cleave (v.1) + -age. General meaning "action or state of cleaving or being cleft" is from 1867.

The sense of "cleft between a woman's breasts in low-cut clothing" is first recorded 1946, defined in a "Time" magazine article [Aug. 5] as the "Johnston Office trade term for the shadowed depression dividing an actress' bosom into two distinct sections;" traditionally first used in this sense by U.S. publicist Joseph I. Breen (1888-1965), head of the Production Code Administration (replaced 1945 by Eric Johnston), enforcers of Hollywood self-censorship, in reference to Jane Russell's costumes and poses in "The Outlaw."

cleavage in Medicine

cleavage

[klē′vĭj]

n.

A series of cell divisions in the ovum immediately following fertilization.segmentation

The splitting of a complex molecule into two or more simpler molecules.scission

The linear clefts in the skin, indicating the general direction of the fibers in the dermis.

cleavage in Science

cleavage

[klē′vĭj]

Geology The breaking of certain minerals along specific planes, making smooth surfaces. These surfaces are parallel to the faces of the molecular crystals that make up the minerals. A mineral that exhibits cleavage breaks into smooth pieces with the same pattern of parallel surfaces regardless of how many times it is broken. Some minerals, like quartz, do not have a cleavage and break into uneven pieces with rough surfaces.

Biology

The series of mitotic cell divisions by which a single fertilized egg cell becomes a many-celled blastula. Each division produces cells half the size of the parent cell.
Any of the single cell divisions in such a series.

cleavage in Culture

cleavage

The process by which an animal cell divides into two daughter cells after mitosis. In an embryo, this process is repeated many times and leads to the formation of the blastula.