cleaver

American  

[klee-ver] / ˈkli vər /

noun

1. a heavy, broad-bladed knife or long-bladed hatchet, especially one used by butchers for cutting meat into joints or pieces.

2. a person or thing that cleaves. cleave.

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cleaver British  

/ ˈkliːvə /

noun

1. a heavy knife or long-bladed hatchet, esp one used by butchers

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cleaver Scientific  

/ klē′vər /

1. A bifacial stone tool flaked to produce a straight, sharp, relatively wide edge at one end. Cleavers are early core tools associated primarily with the Acheulian tool culture.

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Etymology

Origin of cleaver

First recorded in 1325–75, cleaver is from the Middle English word clevere. See cleave ², -er ¹

Example Sentences

"You can see it as a domestic narrative and then you can see it as a jumbo meat cleaver".

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026

At Wing, he serves sea cucumber inside a crispy spring roll, dramatically sliced tableside with a Chinese cleaver.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 18, 2025

A Santoku knife is a Japanese chef’s knife with small indentations along the straight blade, in the style of a Chinese slicing cleaver.

From Washington Times • Jun. 9, 2023

The flesh is soft enough to cube up without resorting to the kind of heavy-duty cleaver you’d take to a leathery kabocha.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 5, 2022

With a slam of her cleaver, she cracked rock candy into jagged pieces.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston