- plural of cleaver.
cleavers
Americannoun
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cleavers
plural
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a North American plant, Galium aparine, of the madder family, having short, hooked bristles on the stems and leaves and bearing very small white flowers.
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any of certain related species.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cleavers
before 1000; Middle English clivre, Old English clife burdock ( -re probably by association with Middle English clivres (plural) claws, or with the agent noun from cleven to cleave 1, whence the modern spelling)
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.
Then comes the sound, clams tossed in hot pans, cleavers pounding roast pork, a Cantonese rock ballad barely rising above the crowd.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
"Beryl was like a surprise attack, like an ambush," says Cornelius, in a deep baritone voice, over the market's chatter, reggae and thwack of cleavers on chopping boards.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2024
Like sitcom employees, the Clyde’s cooks complain about how busy they are, and they look busy, smacking cleavers through heads of lettuce, slapping turkey slices onto waxed paper, and lavishly squeezing sauces all over them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 23, 2022
Kinmen is now known for the production of meat cleavers carved out of strewn artillery shells.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 3, 2022
But he went to work with two cleavers chopping the onion up into the meat.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
