cleft


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Related to cleft: pudendal cleft

cleft

split; divided; a crack or crevice; an indentation between two parts, as of the chin
Not to be confused with:
clef – in music, a symbol on a staff showing the pitch of the notes
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

cleft

 (klĕft)
v.
A past tense and a past participle of cleave1.
adj.
1. Divided; split.
2. Botany Having indentations that extend about halfway to the center, as in certain leaves.
n.
1. A crack, crevice, or split.
2. A split or indentation between two parts, as of the chin.

[Middle English, past participle of cleven, to split; see cleave1. N., from Middle English, alteration (influenced by cleft) of clift, from Old English geclyft; see gleubh- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cleft

(klɛft)
vb
the past tense and a past participle of cleave1
n
1. (Geological Science) a fissure or crevice
2. an indentation or split in something, such as the chin, palate, etc
adj
3. split; divided
4. (Botany) (of leaves) having one or more incisions reaching nearly to the midrib
[Old English geclyft (n); related to Old High German kluft tongs, German Kluft gap, fissure; see cleave1]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cleft1

(klɛft)

n.
1. a space or opening made by cleavage; a split.
2. a division formed by cleaving.
3. a hollow area or indentation: a chin with a cleft.
[1300–50; Middle English clift, Old English (ge)clyft split, cracked, c. Old High German, Old Norse kluft; akin to cleave2]

cleft2

(klɛft)

v.
1. a pt. and pp. of cleave 2.
adj.
2. cloven; split; divided.
3. (of plant parts, as a leaf) having divisions that extend more than halfway to the midrib or base.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cleft

 a group of stars [modern].
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

cleft


Past participle: clefted
Gerund: clefting

Imperative
cleft
cleft
Present
I cleft
you cleft
he/she/it clefts
we cleft
you cleft
they cleft
Preterite
I clefted
you clefted
he/she/it clefted
we clefted
you clefted
they clefted
Present Continuous
I am clefting
you are clefting
he/she/it is clefting
we are clefting
you are clefting
they are clefting
Present Perfect
I have clefted
you have clefted
he/she/it has clefted
we have clefted
you have clefted
they have clefted
Past Continuous
I was clefting
you were clefting
he/she/it was clefting
we were clefting
you were clefting
they were clefting
Past Perfect
I had clefted
you had clefted
he/she/it had clefted
we had clefted
you had clefted
they had clefted
Future
I will cleft
you will cleft
he/she/it will cleft
we will cleft
you will cleft
they will cleft
Future Perfect
I will have clefted
you will have clefted
he/she/it will have clefted
we will have clefted
you will have clefted
they will have clefted
Future Continuous
I will be clefting
you will be clefting
he/she/it will be clefting
we will be clefting
you will be clefting
they will be clefting
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been clefting
you have been clefting
he/she/it has been clefting
we have been clefting
you have been clefting
they have been clefting
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been clefting
you will have been clefting
he/she/it will have been clefting
we will have been clefting
you will have been clefting
they will have been clefting
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been clefting
you had been clefting
he/she/it had been clefting
we had been clefting
you had been clefting
they had been clefting
Conditional
I would cleft
you would cleft
he/she/it would cleft
we would cleft
you would cleft
they would cleft
Past Conditional
I would have clefted
you would have clefted
he/she/it would have clefted
we would have clefted
you would have clefted
they would have clefted
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.cleft - a split or indentation in something (as the palate or chin)cleft - a split or indentation in something (as the palate or chin)
indentation, indenture - a concave cut into a surface or edge (as in a coastline)
2.cleft - a long narrow openingcleft - a long narrow opening    
chap - a crack in a lip caused usually by cold
crevasse - a deep fissure
fatigue crack - a crack in metal resulting from metal fatigue
faulting, geological fault, fracture, break, fault, shift - (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they built it right over a geological fault"; "he studied the faulting of the earth's crust"
opening, gap - an open or empty space in or between things; "there was a small opening between the trees"; "the explosion made a gap in the wall"
rift - a narrow fissure in rock
slit - a narrow fissure
split - a lengthwise crack in wood; "he inserted the wedge into a split in the log"
volcano, vent - a fissure in the earth's crust (or in the surface of some other planet) through which molten lava and gases erupt
Adj.1.cleft - having one or more incisions reaching nearly to the midrib
compound - composed of more than one part; "compound leaves are composed of several lobes; "compound flower heads"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

cleft

noun
1. opening, break, crack, gap, rent, breach, fracture, rift, chink, crevice, fissure, cranny a narrow cleft in the rocks too small for a human to squeeze through
adjective
1. split, separated, torn, rent, ruptured, cloven, riven, sundered, parted The cleft rock face seemed to move in the static noonday light.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

cleft

noun
A usually narrow partial opening caused by splitting and rupture:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
شِق،شِق، صَدْع
rozsedlinatrhlina
kløftspalte
sprunga
plaisa

cleft

[kleft]
A. PT & PP of cleave 1
B. ADJ cleft chinbarbilla f partida
to be in a cleft stickestar entre la espada y la pared
C. N (in rock) → grieta f, hendidura f; (in chin) → partición f
D. CPD cleft palate N (Med) → fisura f del paladar
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

cleft

[ˈklɛft]
n (in rock)crevasse f, fissure f
adj
to be in a cleft stick (British)être dans une impassecleft palate npalais m fendu
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

cleft

pret, ptp of cleave1
adjgespalten; a cleft chinein Kinn ntmit Grübchen; to be in a cleft stickin der Klemme sitzen (inf)
nSpalte f, → Kluft f (geh); (in chin) → Grübchen nt; (in forehead) → Senkrecht- or Skeptikerfalte f; (fig)Spaltung f, → Kluft f

cleft

:
cleft lip
nHasenscharte f
cleft palate
nGaumenspalte f, → Wolfsrachen m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

cleft

[klɛft]
1. pt, pp of cleave
2. n (in rock) → crepa, fenditura
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

cleft

(kleft) noun
an opening made by splitting. a cleft in the rocks.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

cleft

n. fisura, abertura alargada.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

cleft

adj hendido; — lip labio hendido; — palate paladar hendido
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
Then they came to a narrow cleft about twenty inches wide.
Early as day comes in the beginning of July, it was still dark when we reached our destination, a cleft in the head of a great mountain, with a water running through the midst, and upon the one hand a shallow cave in a rock.
For men whose lips are blanched and white, With aching wounds and torturing thirst, What charm in canvas shot with light, And pale with faces cleft and curst, Past life and life's delight?
He bore in his right hand a tallow candle stuck in the end of a cleft stick.
the tree at whose foot I lay had opened its rocky side, and in the cleft, like a long lily-bud sliding from its green sheath, stood a dryad, and my speech failed and my breath went as I looked upon her beauty, for which mortality has no simile.
From species to species, as: 'With blade of bronze drew away the life,' and 'Cleft the water with the vessel of unyielding bronze.' Here {alpha rho upsilon rho alpha iota}, 'to draw away,' is used for {tau alpha mu epsilon iota nu}, 'to cleave,' and {tau alpha mu epsilon iota nu} again for {alpha rho upsilon alpha iota},--each being a species of taking away.
The thick black cloud was cleft, and still The Moon was at its side: Like waters shot from some high crag, The lightning fell with never a jag, A river steep and wide.
Far away in Zululand there is a cleft upon the Ghost Mountain.
I heard a howl behind me, and cries of "Catch him!" "Hold him!" and the grey-faced creature appeared behind me and jammed his huge bulk into the cleft. "Go on!
The deep arroyo through which Squaw Creek wound was now only a cleft between snowdrifts--very blue when one looked down into it.
He "had" me indeed, and in a cleft stick; for who would ever absolve me, who would consent that I should go unhung, if, by the faintest tremor of an overture, I were the first to introduce into our perfect intercourse an element so dire?
In the First Part of this history we left the valiant Biscayan and the renowned Don Quixote with drawn swords uplifted, ready to deliver two such furious slashing blows that if they had fallen full and fair they would at least have split and cleft them asunder from top to toe and laid them open like a pomegranate; and at this so critical point the delightful history came to a stop and stood cut short without any intimation from the author where what was missing was to be found.