cleave

cleave
    v 1: separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument;
         "cleave the bone" [syn: {cleave}, {split}, {rive}]
    2: make by cutting into; "The water is going to cleave a channel
       into the rock"
    3: come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and
       resist separation; "The dress clings to her body"; "The label
       stuck to the box"; "The sushi rice grains cohere" [syn:
       {cling}, {cleave}, {adhere}, {stick}, {cohere}]
    

Cleave \Cleave\ (kl[=e]v), v. i. [imp. {Cleaved} (kl[=e]vd),
   {Clave} (kl[=a]v, Obs.); p. p. {Cleaved}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Cleaving}.] [OE. cleovien, clivien, cliven, AS. cleofian,
   clifian; akin to OS. klib[=o]n, G. kleben, LG. kliven, D.
   kleven, Dan. kl[ae]be, Sw. klibba, and also to G. kleiben to
   cleve, paste, Icel. kl[imac]fa to climb. Cf. {Climb}.]
   1. To adhere closely; to stick; to hold fast; to cling.
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            My bones cleave to my skin.           --Ps. cii. 5.
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            The diseases of Egypt . . . shall cleave unto thee.
                                                  --Deut.
                                                  xxviii. 60.
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            Sophistry cleaves close to and protects
            Sin's rotten trunk, concealing its defects.
                                                  --Cowper.
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   2. To unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to
      adhere with strong attachment.
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            Therefore shall a man leave his father and his
            mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. --Gen. ii.
                                                  24.
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            Cleave unto the Lord your God.        --Josh. xxiii.
                                                  8.
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   3. To fit; to be adapted; to assimilate. [Poetic.]
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            New honors come upon him,
            Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mold
            But with the aid of use.              --Shak.
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Cleave \Cleave\ (kl[=e]v), v. t. [imp. {Cleft} (kl[e^]ft),
   {Clave} (kl[=a]v, Obs.), {Clove} (kl[=o]v, Obsolescent); p.
   p. {Cleft}, {Cleaved} (kl[=e]vd) or {Cloven} (kl[=o]"v'n); p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Cleaving}.] [OE. cleoven, cleven, AS.
   cle['o]fan; akin to OS. klioban, D. klooven, G. klieben,
   Icel. klj[=u]fa, Sw. klyfva, Dan. kl["o]ve and prob. to Gr.
   gly`fein to carve, L. glubere to peel. Cf. {Cleft}.]
   1. To part or divide by force; to split or rive; to cut.
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            O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. --Shak.
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   2. To part or open naturally; to divide.
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            Every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the
            cleft into two claws.                 --Deut. xiv.
                                                  6.
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Cleave \Cleave\, v. i.
   To part; to open; to crack; to separate; as parts of bodies;
   as, the ground cleaves by frost.
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         The Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst. --Zech.
                                                  xiv. 4.
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173 Moby Thesaurus words for "cleave":
      accelerate, activate, adhere, adhere to, agglomerate, amputate,
      associate, atomize, ax, bifurcate, bisect, bite, bombard, branch,
      breach, break, break to pieces, broach, bunch, butcher, by two,
      carve, check, chink, chop, clasp, cleave to, clench, clinch, cling,
      cling to, clip, clot, cluster, clutch, coagulate, cohere, combine,
      congeal, conglomerate, conjoin, crack, crevasse, cross-bombard,
      cut, cut apart, cut away, cut in two, cut off, cut open, demolish,
      dichotomize, dimidiate, disassemble, disintegrate, dismantle,
      dispart, dissect, dissever, ditch, divaricate, divide, divorce,
      embrace, excise, fission, fissure, fly open, fork, fracture,
      fragment, freeze to, furrow, gap, gash, grapple, grasp, grip,
      gripe, groove, grow together, hack, halve, hang on, hang on to,
      hang together, hew, hold, hold fast, hold on, hold on to,
      hold tight, hold together, hug, in half, incise, jigsaw, join,
      keep hold of, lance, lay open, link, make mincemeat of, mass,
      never let go, nip, nucleize, ope, open, open up, pare, part,
      persist, pick to pieces, prune, pull in pieces, pull to pieces,
      pulverize, ramify, reduce to rubble, rend, rent, rift, rip, rive,
      rupture, saw, scissor, separate, set, sever, shatter, slash, slice,
      slit, slot, smash, smash the atom, snip, solidify, split,
      split in two, spread, spread out, spring open, stay, stay put,
      stick, stick to, stick together, subdivide, sunder, swing open,
      take apart, take hold of, tap, tear, tear apart, tear open,
      tear to pieces, tear to shreds, tear to tatters, throw open, total,
      transect, trench, unbuild, undo, unite, unmake, whittle, wrack up,
      wreck