a. Capable of cleaving or being divided. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of cleaving or splitting. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Crystallog.) The quality possessed by many crystallized substances of splitting readily in one or more definite directions, in which the cohesive attraction is a minimum, affording more or less smooth surfaces; the direction of the dividing plane; a fragment obtained by cleaving, as of a diamond. See Parting. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Geol.) Division into laminæ, like slate, with the lamination not necessarily parallel to the plane of deposition; -- usually produced by pressure. [ 1913 Webster ]

Basal cleavage, cleavage parallel to the base of a crystal, or to the plane of the lateral axes. --
Cell cleavage (Biol.), multiplication of cells by fission. See Segmentation. --
Cubic cleavage, cleavage parallel to the faces of a cube. --
Diagonal cleavage, cleavage parallel to ta diagonal plane. --
Egg clavage. (Biol.) See Segmentation. --
Lateral cleavage, cleavage parallel to the lateral planes. --
Octahedral cleavage,
Dodecahedral cleavage, or
Rhombohedral cleavage, cleavage parallel to the faces of an octahedron, dodecahedron, or rhombohedron. --
Prismatic cleavage, cleavage parallel to a vertical prism. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. Cleaved Clave (Obs.); p. p. Cleaved; p. pr. & vb. n. Cleaving. ] [ OE. cleovien, clivien, cliven, AS. cleofian, clifian; akin to OS. klibōn, G. kleben, LG. kliven, D. kleven, Dan. klæbe, Sw. klibba, and also to G. kleiben to cleve, paste, Icel. klīfa to climb. Cf. Climb. ] 1. To adhere closely; to stick; to hold fast; to cling. [ 1913 Webster ]

My bones cleave to my skin. Ps. cii. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

The diseases of Egypt . . . shall cleave unto thee. Deut. xxviii. 60. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sophistry cleaves close to and protects
Sin's rotten trunk, concealing its defects. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to adhere with strong attachment. [ 1913 Webster ]

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. Gen. ii. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cleave unto the Lord your God. Josh. xxiii. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To fit; to be adapted; to assimilate. [ Poetic. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

New honors come upon him,
Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mold
But with the aid of use. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. Cleft Clave (Obs.), Clove (Obsolescent); p. p. Cleft, Cleaved r Cloven p. pr. & vb. n. Cleaving. ] [ OE. cleoven, cleven, AS. cleófan; akin to OS. klioban, D. klooven, G. klieben, Icel. kljūfa, Sw. klyfva, Dan. klöve and prob. to Gr. gly`fein to carve, L. glubere to peel. Cf. Cleft. ] 1. To part or divide by force; to split or rive; to cut. [ 1913 Webster ]

O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To part or open naturally; to divide. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws. Deut. xiv. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To part; to open; to crack; to separate; as parts of bodies; as, the ground cleaves by frost. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst. Zech. xiv. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Professor Parker Cleaveland. ] (Min.) A variety of albite, white and lamellar in structure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who cleaves, or that which cleaves; especially, a butcher's instrument for cutting animal bodies into joints or pieces. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Cleave to stick. ] (Bot.) A species of Galium (Galium Aparine), having a fruit set with hooked bristles, which adhere to whatever they come in contact with; -- called also, goose grass, catchweed, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]