cleav|ing

cleave¹ «kleev», verb, cleft or cleaved or clove, cleft or cleaved or clo|ven, cleav|ing.

–v.t.

1. a) to cut, divide, or split open; hew asunder: »

A blow of the whale's tail cleft our boat in two.

b) to pass through; pierce; penetrate: »

The airplane swept across the sky, cleaving the clouds.

2. to make by cutting: »

They cleft a path through the woods.

–v.i.

1. to split with a smooth, plane fracture, or in layers; fall asunder.

2. to cut one's way; penetrate; pass.

╂[Old English clēofan]

–cleav´a|ble, adjective.

cleave² «kleev», intransitive verb. cleaved or (Archaic) clave, cleaved, cleav|ing.

to hold fast; cling: »

to cleave to an idea. He was so frightened that his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth. For I cleaved to a cause that I felt to be pure and true (Tennyson).

╂[Old English cleofian]