cleave

cleave [kli:v] v past tense cleaved , clove [kləuv US klouv] , or cleft [kleft] past participle cleaved , past tense cloven [ˈkləuvən US ˈklou-] or cleft

[: Old English; Origin: cleofan. cleave to Old English clifian]

1.) [I,T always + adverb/preposition] literary

to cut something into separate parts using a heavy tool, or to be able to be cut in this way

▪ The wooden door had been cleft in two.

2.) [T] formal

to divide something into two completely separate parts

▪ the racial problems that still cleave American society

3.) cleave the air/darkness etc

literary to move quickly through the air etc

▪ His fist cleft the air.

cleave to / [cleave to sb/sth] phr v

1.) formal to continue to think that a method, belief, person etc is true or valuable, even when this seems unlikely

▪ John still cleaves to his romantic ideals.

2.) literary to stick to someone or something, or seem to surround them