Showing results for "cleavers"

• plural of cleaver.

cleavers

American  

[klee-verz] / ˈkli vərz /

noun

• cleavers
  plural

1. 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.

2. any of certain related species.

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cleavers British  

/ ˈkliːvəz /

noun

1. Also called: goosegrass, hairif, sticky willie. (functioning as singular) a Eurasian rubiaceous plant, Galium aparine, having small white flowers and prickly stems and fruits

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cleavers
  plural

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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)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cleavers

Elephant remains were unearthed alongside handaxes and cleavers made from basalt, a volcanic rock.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026

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

During the last amnesty in 2006, people handed over more than 12,500 blades to police without facing criminal charges - they included machetes, swords, meat cleavers, bayonets and axes.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026

Her mother, Ann, gave her honeysuckle flowers to suck on hot days and often added pineapple weed to lemonade or cleavers and violets to tea.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 6, 2023

By the time I arrived, I had enough anger to fend off a thousand flying cleavers.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

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