Cleave

Definition of Cleave

Pronunciation: klēv

v. i.	1.	To adhere closely; to stick; to hold fast; to cling. [imp. Cleaved (klēvd), Clave (klāv, Obs.); p. p. Cleaved; p. pr. & vb. n. Cleaving.] My bones cleave to my skin. - Ps. cii. 5. The diseases of Egypt . . . shall cleave unto thee. - Deut. xxviii. 60. Sophistry cleaves close to and protects Sin's rotten trunk, concealing its defects. - Cowper.
	2.	To unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to adhere with strong attachment. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. - Gen. ii. 24. Cleave unto the Lord your God. - Josh. xxiii. 8.
	3.	To fit; to be adapted; to assimilate. New honors come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mold But with the aid of use. - Shak.
v. t.	1.	To part or divide by force; to split or rive; to cut. [imp. Cleft (klĕft), Clave (klāv, Obs.), Clove (klōv, Obsolescent); p. p. Cleft, Cleaved (klēvd) or Cloven (klō"v'n); p. pr. & vb. n. Cleaving.] O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. - Shak.
	2.	To part or open naturally; to divide. Every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws. - Deut. xiv. 6.
v. i.	1.	To part; to open; to crack; to separate; as parts of bodies; as, the ground cleaves by frost. The Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst. - Zech. xiv. 4.

Related Words

accelerate, activate, adhere, adhere to, agglomerate, amputate, associate, atomize, ax, bifurcate, bisect, bite, bombard, branch, breach, break, break to pieces, broach, bunch, butcher, by two, carve, check, chink, chop, clasp, cleave to, clench, clinch, cling, cling to, clip, clot, cluster, clutch, coagulate, cohere, combine, congeal, conglomerate, conjoin, crack, crevasse, cross-bombard, cut, cut apart, cut away, cut in two, cut off, cut open, demolish, dichotomize, dimidiate, disassemble, disintegrate, dismantle, dispart, dissect, dissever, ditch, divaricate, divide, divorce, embrace, excise, fission, fissure, fly open, fork, fracture, fragment, freeze to, furrow, gap, gash, grapple, grasp, grip, gripe, groove, grow together, hack, halve, hang on, hang on to, hang together, hew, hold, hold fast, hold on, hold on to, hold tight, hold together, hug, in half, incise, jigsaw, join, keep hold of, lance, lay open, link, make mincemeat of, mass, never let go, nip, nucleize, ope, open, open up, pare, part, persist, pick to pieces, prune, pull in pieces, pull to pieces, pulverize, ramify, reduce to rubble, rend, rent, rift, rip, rive, rupture, saw, scissor, separate, set, sever, shatter, slash, slice, slit, slot, smash, smash the atom, snip, solidify, split, split in two, spread, spread out, spring open, stay, stay put, stick, stick to, stick together, subdivide, sunder, swing open, take apart, take hold of, tap, tear, tear apart, tear open, tear to pieces, tear to shreds, tear to tatters, throw open, total, transect, trench, unbuild, undo, unite, unmake, whittle, wrack up, wreck

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