MEANING
To split something apart with a strong cutting blow.
Use it for
Heavy cutting blows; a divided body; force overcoming a resistant surfaceGive the cut weight and a clear direction.
Words that belong together
- cleave a skull
- cleave in two
- cleave through bone
On the page
The axe cleaved the animal's skull.
A single stroke had cleft the mask in two.
She tried to cleave through the bone, but the blade stuck.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- cleave / cleaves
- Past tense
- cleaved
- Past participle
- cleaved
- Present participle
- cleaving
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- cleave / cleaves
- Present continuous
- am/is/are cleaving
- Present perfect
- have/has cleaved
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been cleaving
- Past
- cleaved
- Past continuous
- was/were cleaving
- Past perfect
- had cleaved
- Past perfect continuous
- had been cleaving
- Future
- will cleave / cleaves
- Future continuous
- will be cleaving
- Future perfect
- will have cleaved
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been cleaving
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. A contronym: a separate verb cleave to means adhere closely. In violent scenes, specify the cutting instrument or split object to prevent ambiguity. Verb [base, third-person present, past, past participle, -ing]: cleave, cleaves, cleaved, cleaved, cleaving. Alternative splitting-sense past: cleft, clove; past participle: cleft, cloven. The adhere-sense verb instead uses cleaved. Derived/related family (not inflections): cleavage (noun).
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