cleave /kliːv/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense cleaved , clove /kləʊv $ kloʊv/ or cleft /kleft/, past participle cleaved , cloven /ˈkləʊv ə n $ ˈkloʊ-/ or cleft )
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: cleofan . cleave to Old English clifian ]
1 . [I, T always + adv/prep] 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 . [transitive] 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 somebody/something phrasal verb
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