cleave
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to adhere closely; stick; cling (usually followed byto ).
-
to remain faithful (usually followed byto ).
to cleave to one's principles in spite of persecution.
verb (used with object)
-
to split or divide by or as if by a cutting blow, especially along a natural line of division, as the grain of wood.
-
to make by or as if by cutting.
to cleave a path through the wilderness.
-
to penetrate or pass through (air, water, etc.).
The bow of the boat cleaved the water cleanly.
-
to cut off; sever.
to cleave a branch from a tree.
verb (used without object)
-
to part or split, especially along a natural line of division.
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to penetrate or advance by or as if by cutting (usually followed bythrough ).
verb
-
to split or cause to split, esp along a natural weakness
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(tr) to make by or as if by cutting
to cleave a path
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to penetrate or traverse
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cleave1
First recorded before 900; Middle English cleven, Old English cleofian, clifian, cognate with Old High German klebēn, German kleben
Origin of cleave2
First recorded before 950; Middle English cleven, Old English clēofan, cognate with Old High German klioban, German klieben, Old Norse kljūfa; akin to Greek glýphein “to carve,” Latin glūbere “to peel”
Explanation
Cleave, a verb, has two very different meanings. It can describe cutting or splitting something apart with a sharp instrument, or — oddly enough — it can describe sticking to something like glue. To cleave or not to cleave, that is the question. Cleave can refer to being in close contact, to staying really, really close to someone or something: "If you are walking in the pitch-black woods without a flashlight, you want to cleave to the person in front of you." On the other hand, it can mean to split apart with a sharp tool — which is not the action you want to happen while walking in the woods. We've seen that movie.
Vocabulary lists containing cleave
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When the wind blows hard, and their branches and boughs thrash and creak, I am convinced they will topple over and cleave my home in twain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
They are free to rein in the state legislature as long as they cleave reasonably close to their state constitutions and do not step outside interpretation into pure improvisation.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2025
The Scottish Premiership leaders enjoyed almost 70% possession but struggled to cleave out clear chances against a Croatian side hampered by injuries.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2024
Endonucleases cut the RNA molecules through the middle like scissors, while exonucleases cleave the thread from one end to the other.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2024
He felt his tongue cleave to his mouth, and his heart labouring.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
“Hey There Little Insect,” an impish folk-rocker, begs bugs not to bite, incorporating Bo Diddley’s signature clave rhythm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Hints of Cuban clave rhythms, Tin Pan Alley harmonies, Jewish melodies and piano licks swim through its overarching Romantic theme.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
But Mark Morris, perched on a stool and clacking out the rhythm with a pair of clave sticks, finds plenty to quarrel with as he oversees this rehearsal of his new work.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 21, 2022
“I would go to write for the record, and I would play clave for five hours not knowing what I was doing,” she said.
From New York Times ● Oct. 12, 2021
Still my tongue clave to the roof of my mouth and I could not speak.
From The Deemster by Sir Hall Caine
That’s why, if you don’t want your house cleaved in twain, diagnosing your trees is best left to a certified arborist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
And now at Royal Portrush in this year's Open Championship, Scheffler has cleaved open an advantage of four shots after 54 holes following a display of understated authority in the hazy Northern Irish sunshine.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2025
The waterway was cleaved across the most narrow section of the Panamanian isthmus in the late 1800s and early 1900s, by French and then U.S. engineers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2025
But within these macro trends, a divide has cleaved open.
From Slate ● Oct. 11, 2024
That was how things felt now, two parts of a whole, cleaved into the time Before Ekon had betrayed her, and the terrible After.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
The cell destroys the disease-causing protein by cleaving it into short peptides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
"In the end, we optimized the conditions to a practical level and, under ambient temperatures, achieved PEG-modified cleaving efficiency above 91% at 50°C within just one to two hours," stated Inagaki, the study's first author.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
It can be made cleanly by cleaving the hydrogen out of water using clean electricity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
“Society of the Snow” is judicious in what we see of the actual cutting and cleaving.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2024
In desperation I uncapped Riptide and slashed at the fountain, cleaving it in two.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
Brierley said the lack of regulations around injectables and cleft dermal fillers was also concerning.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
A cleft lip and palate is a condition which is present from birth, external when the upper lip, roof of the mouth, or both, fail to fuse properly during pregnancy.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
It comes as one psychology academic warned people with a cleft lip were being "deliberately targeted" by the aesthetics industry and "left vulnerable to potential harm and exploitation".
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
He said it was important for people who have had a cleft lip or have loved ones with a cleft to engage with NHS teams that provide lifelong support and care.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
This stream flows into the valley out of a sort of cleft in the rock ridge to the left of Burden Hill—the water comes from outside, and it was poisoned.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
It can also be manufactured synthetically using materials derived from sources such as clove oil or rice.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
An illustration shows middle C having the scent of a rose; the C two octaves higher, jasmine; in the rumbly bass, clove and vanilla.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The eels are sedated using clove oil so that Dr Evans and his PhD student group can easily measure them.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2025
Adding cinnamon, clove, cardamom, nutmeg and other warming spices gives the dish a depth of flavor.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024
An odor like crystallized ginger, or sweet iced tea with a dark clove floating in it.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Foot and mouth disease is a highly contagious virus that affects cloven hooved animals.
From Reuters ● Jul. 20, 2022
In the video, the singer has deer horns and cloven hooves.
From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2021
“And in their most unmitigable rage into a cloven pine, within which rift imprisoned he didst painfully—”
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 8, 2019
“I expected cloven hoofs,” said one former NSC staffer.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 4, 2019
He came, a weary man with dinted helm and cloven shield.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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