cleft

USKLEFT/klɛft/

6 meanings of cleft

1
notchnouncountable
A crack, opening or V-shaped dent, as if something had split there.
Water dripped from a cleft in the rock.
She has a small cleft in her chin, just like her dad.
Similarcrevice, fissure, crack, split, gap
Note
2
adjective
Split into two parts, or partly split.
He has a cleft chin, like his grandfather.
The goat's cleft hooves grip the steep rocks well.
Similarcloven
3
split apartverb
Past tense and past participle of cleave. Use it for splitting or cutting something in the past.
He cleft the log in two with one swing of his ax.
Lightning cleft the old tree from top to bottom.
Note
4
split-off piecenouncountable
A piece that has been split off something bigger.
He threw another cleft of wood on the fire.
The basket by the stove was full of clefts of dry pine.

5
verb
In grammar, to set one part of a sentence apart from the rest so it stands out.
6
noun
A horse illness in which a crack forms on the lower leg, just above the hoof.

cleave, verb: To split or cut something apart with a sharp tool, or as if with one. Full entry

Forms: cleavecleaves he/she/itcleaving -ing formcleft past tense, past participle
Spelling: cleave → cleft: irregular (no -ed)

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It comes from Old English and is formed from the word cleave.