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.

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[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

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	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 opening     crack, scissure, crevice, fissure 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 dissected 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:

break, chink, cleavage, crack, crevice, fissure, rift, split.

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

Spalte

fissure

sprunga

fenditurain una situazione difficilep.p. di to cleavescissionespacco

plaisa

spalte

yarıkçatlak

裂缝

cleft

[kleft]

A. PT & PP of cleave ¹

B. ADJ cleft chin → barbilla f partida
to be in a cleft stick → estar 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 n → palais m fendu

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

cleft

pret, ptp of cleave¹

adj → gespalten; a cleft chin → ein Kinn nt → mit Grübchen; to be in a cleft stick → in der Klemme sitzen (inf)

n → Spalte f, → Kluft f (geh); (in chin) → Grübchen nt; (in forehead) → Senkrecht- or Skeptikerfalte f; (fig) → Spaltung f, → Kluft f

---

cleft

:

cleft lip

n → Hasenscharte f

cleft palate

n → Gaumenspalte 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. kloof شِق،شِق، صَدْع цепнатина fissura trhlina, rozsedlina die Spalte kløft; spalte σχισμήhendidura, grieta lõhe شکاف halkeama fissureבקיע दरार pukotina, raspuklima szakadék celah sprunga fenditura 裂け目 갈라진 틈 plyšys plaisa rekahan spleetkløft, spalteszczelina سوراخ fissura fisură расщелина trhlina razpoka rascep klyfta, spricka รอยแยก çatlak, yarık 裂縫 тріщина, розколина توڑ کر دو ٹکڑے کرنا ، اختلاف khe 裂缝

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.