cleft

¹ American  

[kleft] / klɛft /

noun

1. a space or opening made by cleavage; a split.

   Synonyms:

   crevasse, chasm, cranny, rift, crack, crevice, fissure

2. a division formed by cleaving. cleave.

3. a hollow area or indentation.

   a chin with a cleft.

4. Veterinary Pathology. a crack on the bend of the pastern of a horse.

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cleft ² American  

[kleft] / klɛft /

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of cleave.

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adjective

1. cloven; cleave; cloven; split; divided.

2. (of a leaf, corolla, lobe, or other expanded plant part) having divisions formed by incisions or narrow sinuses that extend more than halfway to the midrib or the base.

cleft British  

/ klɛft /

verb

1. the past tense and a past participle of cleave 1

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noun

1. a fissure or crevice

2. an indentation or split in something, such as the chin, palate, etc

adjective

1. split; divided

2. (of leaves) having one or more incisions reaching nearly to the midrib

Etymology

Origin of cleft¹

1300–50; Middle English clift, Old English ( ge ) clyft split, cracked; cognate with Old High German, Old Norse kluft; akin to cleave ²

Origin of cleft²

cleft ¹

Example Sentences

Habermas was born with a cleft palate that required repeated operations as a child, an experience he later said helped shape his thinking about language and communication.

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026

Reported problems include spina bifida, cleft palate, and a range of intellectual, communication, behavior and memory disorders.

From Science Daily • Nov. 28, 2025

She’s desperate to find a refuge for herself, “a cleft in the rock of the world” that she could hide in, as she tells him after her secrets have been exposed.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2025

He had the darkest eyelashes I’ve ever seen, short and tidy fingernails, and a cleft chin that could fit a Canadian loonie.

From Slate • Dec. 17, 2024

Over it a trickling water dripped, through a wide cleft that seemed to have been carved out by a fall that had once been strong and full.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien