cleav·age

(klē′vĭj)

1. The act of splitting or cleaving.

2. The state of being split or cleft; a fissure or division.

3. Mineralogy The splitting or tendency to split of a crystallized substance along definite crystalline planes, yielding smooth surfaces.

4. Embryology

a. The series of mitotic cell divisions that produces a blastula from a fertilized ovum. It is the basis of the multicellularity of complex organisms. Also called segmentation.

b. Any single cell division in such a series.

5. Chemistry The splitting of a complex molecule, such as a polysaccharide, into simpler molecules.

6. Informal The cleft between a woman's breasts as revealed by a low-cut garment.

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.

cleavage

(ˈkliːvɪdʒ)

1. informal the separation between a woman's breasts, esp as revealed by a low-cut dress

2. a division or split

3. (Minerals) (of crystals) the act of splitting or the tendency to split along definite planes so as to yield smooth surfaces

4. (Biology) embryol Also called: segmentation (in animals) the repeated division of a fertilized ovum into a solid ball of cells (a morula), which later becomes hollow (a blastula)

5. (Chemistry) the breaking of a chemical bond in a molecule to give smaller molecules or radicals

6. (Geological Science) geology the natural splitting of certain rocks, or minerals such as slates, or micas along the planes of weakness

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cleav•age

(ˈkli vɪdʒ)

n.

1. the act of cleaving or splitting.

2. the state of being cleft.

3. the area between a woman's breasts, esp. when revealed by a low-cut neckline.

4. the tendency of crystals, certain minerals, rocks, etc., to break in preferred directions yielding smooth surfaces (cleav′age planes`).

5. the breaking down of a molecule or compound into simpler structures.

6. the series of cell divisions in mitosis that converts the fertilized egg into blastomeres.

[1810–20]

cleav·age

(klē′vĭj)

1. Geology The breaking of certain minerals along specific planes, making smooth surfaces. These surfaces are parallel to the faces of the molecular crystals that make up the minerals. A mineral that exhibits cleavage breaks into smooth pieces with the same pattern of parallel surfaces regardless of how many times it is broken. Some minerals, like quartz, do not have a cleavage and break into uneven pieces with rough surfaces.

2. Biology In an embryo, the series of cell divisions by which a single fertilized egg cell becomes a many-celled blastula.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	cleavage - the state of being split or cleft; "there was a cleavage between the liberal and conservative members" state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state"
	2.	cleavage - the breaking of a chemical bond in a molecule resulting in smaller molecules chemical action, chemical change, chemical process - (chemistry) any process determined by the atomic and molecular composition and structure of the substances involved
	3.	cleavage - (embryology) the repeated division of a fertilised ovum segmentation embryology - the branch of biology that studies the formation and early development of living organisms cell division, cellular division - the process in reproduction and growth by which a cell divides to form daughter cells maternity, pregnancy, gestation - the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus
	4.	cleavage - the line formed by a groove between two parts (especially the separation between a woman's breasts) region, area - a part of an animal that has a special function or is supplied by a given artery or nerve; "in the abdominal region"
	5.	cleavage - the act of cleaving or splitting division - the act or process of dividing

cleavage

noun

A usually narrow partial opening caused by splitting and rupture:

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

Translations

إنْفِلاع بين ثَديَي المرأهفَلْق، انْشِقاق

dekoltprasklinarýha mezi ňadryštěpeníštěpnost

kløftkløvningspaltningkavalérgang

Dekolletee Furchung KluftSchieferungSpaltneigung

división

clivage décolleté

dekoltázshasítás

klofningur

décolleté fenditura fessura scollatura sfaldatura

décolletésplijten

kløyving spalting splittelse

раскол расщепление

záňadrie

böl mememeler arasındaki olukyar ma

乳沟劈开

cleavage

[ˈkliːvɪdʒ] N

1. (= division, split) → escisión f, división f

2. [of woman] → escote m

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

cleavage

[ˈkliːvɪdʒ] n [woman] → décolleté m; [dress] → décolleté m

cleave to

[ˈkliːv] [cleaved or clove] (pt) vt → rester fidèle à qch/qn

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

cleavage

(= split) → Spalte f, → Kluft f (geh); (fig) → Spaltung f, → Kluft f

(of woman’s breasts) → Dekolletee nt, → Dekolleté nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

cleavage

[ˈkliːvɪdʒ] n → décolleté m inv

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

cleave¹

(kliːv) – past tense cleft (kleft) cleaved, ~clove (klouv) : past participles cleft, ~cloven (ˈklouvn) – verb

to split or divide.

ˈcleavage (-vidʒ) noun

1. the act of splitting; a split.

2. the split between a woman's breasts.

ˈcleaver noun

a butcher's knife.

cloven hoof, cleft hoof

a hoof, like those of cows, sheep etc, which has a split up the centre.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"Well then, for this cleavage from top to bottom," continued Master Pedro, taking up the split Emperor Charlemagne, "it would not be much if I were to ask five reals and a quarter."

View in context

I had matches with me, and in the light of one I found a small cavern with a flat roof and floor which followed the cleavage of the strata.

View in context

Now she was identified with him and rethought his thoughts with complete self-surrender; now, with a sudden cleavage of spirit, she turned upon him and denounced him for his cruelty.

View in context

The face was not unlike that of a satyr; there was the same slightly protruding forehead, full, in this case, of prominences, all more or less denoting character; the same turned-up nose, with a sprightly cleavage at the tip; the same high cheek-bones.

View in context

The Slot was the metaphor that expressed the class cleavage of Society, and no man crossed this metaphor, back and forth, more successfully than Freddie Drummond.

View in context

I have never heard of any other instance of table-land in a formation of quartz, and which, in the hill I examined, had neither cleavage nor stratification.

View in context

But as the last two days had been very warm, like an Indian summer, the ice was not now transparent, showing the dark green color of the water, and the bottom, but opaque and whitish or gray, and though twice as thick was hardly stronger than before, for the air bubbles had greatly expanded under this heat and run together, and lost their regularity; they were no longer one directly over another, but often like silvery coins poured from a bag, one overlapping another, or in thin flakes, as if occupying slight cleavages. The beauty of the ice was gone, and it was too late to study the bottom.

View in context

It argues that the capacities of democratic governments to pursue specific growth regimes depend, not only on economic circumstances, but also on evolving electoral conditions, marked especially by changes in the cleavage structures conditioning partisan electoral strategies.

From Keynesianism to the knowledge economy: the rise and fall of growth regimes

Orally administered KVD900 achieved rapid and dose-dependent plasma exposure over the range of doses tested from 5 mg to 600 mg A single 600 mg dose provided greater than 90% plasma kallikrein inhibition and protection of high molecular weight kininogen cleavage from dextran sulphate-stimulated cleavage shown by capillary-based immunoassay.

KalVista presents KVD900 data at AAAAI annual meeting

A difference was observed in time of pronuclei appearance, t8, t9+ cleavage times in time-lapse in the smoker and non-smoker groups (p<0.05).

Comparison of embryo morphokinetics following intracytoplasmic sperm injection in smoker and non-smoker couples: Are the results different?

cleavage

cleav·age

cleavage

cleav•age

cleav·age

cleavage

cleavage

cleavage

cleavage

cleavage

cleave1

cleave¹