cleave Neutral 🟢 Beginner (A1)

Verb
cleave
Meaning

separate or divide, or cause something to separate or divide, often violently: cleave something in twain cut or break into two or more parts:

Cleave is a rare linguistic phenomenon called a contronym (or autoantonym)—a word with two contradictory meanings depending on context: to split apart or to stick together.

  • The woodsman used his axe to cleave the log in half
Pronunciation Practice