CLEAVE

/kliːv/

Scrabble

WWF

C(3) L(1) E(1) A(1) V(4) E(1)

NWL/TWL ✓ Collins ✓ WWF ✓

Definition

/kliːv/

noun

Flat, smooth surface produced by cleavage, or any similar surface produced by similar techniques, as in glass.

verb

To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.
“The wings cleaved the foggy air.”
To break a single crystal (such as a gemstone or semiconductor wafer) along one of its more symmetrical crystallographic planes (often by impact), forming facets on the resulting pieces.
To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting.
“The truck cleaved a path through the ice.”
To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.
To split.