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

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

See Examples For:

cleavers

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

In the office, two cleavers are stuck forebodingly into the wall, an installation by Barry Le Va, the influential sculptor who died this year.

From New York Times ● Jun. 14, 2021

A tall, sleek, metal-and-glass table, like something from a science lab or hospital operating room, is festooned with eight meat cleavers suspended on elegant chains, four dangling from either side.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2019

Over time, the ancient innovators rejected bulky hand-axes and cleavers, instead opting for sleek flakes of stone meant for cutting and tipping spears.

From National Geographic ● Jan. 31, 2018

A couple of feet across from the women, behind yellow, featherless chickens hanging from hooks, men in bloody aprons raise their cleavers and cut into slabs of beef with the precision of many years’ practice.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung