cleavage

[ klee-vij ]

/ ˈkli vɪdʒ /

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.

Nearby words

clearweed, clearwing, cleary, cleat, cleavable, cleavage, cleavage cavity, cleavage division, cleavage line, cleavage product, cleavage site

Origin of cleavage

First recorded in 1810–20; cleave² + -age

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

I used to say that all I had left in life was my integrity and my cleavage.
The Week in Death: Clarissa Dickson Wright, One of ‘Two Fat Ladies’|The Telegraph|March 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
From these observations it followed that the planes of cleavage ought not to be coincident with those of bedding.
Charles Lyell and Modern Geology|Thomas George Bonney
Thus, both acids were discovered by Ritthausen and Kreusler179 in the cleavage of such proteids by boiling dilute acid.
On Digestive Proteolysis|R. H. Chittenden
The cleavage between the two attitudes is too sharp for the comprehension of other nations.
Out To Win|Coningsby Dawson
The cleavage of the yolk is partial in the case of Birds and Reptiles, in Mammals it is total.
The History of Creation, Vol. II (of 2)|Ernst Haeckel
A different line of cleavage is indicated by the designation "religions of redemption."
Introduction to the History of Religions|Crawford Howell Toy

British Dictionary definitions for cleavage

cleavage

/ (ˈkliːvɪdʒ) /

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

Medicine definitions for cleavage

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.

Science definitions for cleavage

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.

Culture definitions for cleavage

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.

cleavage

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of cleavage

Examples from the Web for cleavage

British Dictionary definitions for cleavage

cleavage

noun

Medicine definitions for cleavage

cleavage

n.

Science definitions for cleavage

cleavage

Culture definitions for cleavage

cleavage