cleft

¹

[ kleft ]

noun

1. a space or opening made by cleavage; a split.

   Synonyms: crevasse, chasm, cranny, rift, crack, crevice, fissure

2. a division formed by cleaving. cleave.
3. a hollow area or indentation:

   a chin with a cleft.

4. Veterinary Pathology. a crack on the bend of the pastern of a horse.

cleft

²

[ kleft ]

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of cleave ².

adjective

1. cloven; cleave; cloven; split; divided.
2. (of a leaf, corolla, lobe, or other expanded plant part) having divisions formed by incisions or narrow sinuses that extend more than halfway to the midrib or the base.

cleft

/ klɛft /

verb

1. the past tense and a past participle of cleave 1

noun

1. a fissure or crevice
2. an indentation or split in something, such as the chin, palate, etc

adjective

1. split; divided
2. (of leaves) having one or more incisions reaching nearly to the midrib

Word History and Origins

Origin of cleft¹

1300–50; Middle English clift, Old English ( ge ) clyft split, cracked; cognate with Old High German, Old Norse kluft; akin to cleave ²

Origin of cleft²

cleft ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of cleft¹

Old English geclyft (n); related to Old High German kluft tongs, German Kluft gap, fissure; see cleave ¹

Example Sentences

“It certainly happened to me,” said Schimberg, who has a cleft palate.

From Salon

Take lamotrigine, for instance: In the early 2000s, animal trials indicated that it could increase conditions like cleft palate, but later studies found no such link, reassuring clinicians.

From Salon

By late afternoon he was on rocky ground cleft with ravines.

From Literature

More difficult was the physical transformation Vergara underwent to portray Blanco, who stood just five feet tall and, with her cleft chin and cartoonish dimples, was hardly an intimidating physical presence.

From New York Times

The model will allow them to rapidly screen thousands of dietary and environmental factors in a laboratory dish before testing the impact of specific factors on cleft susceptibility in mouse models.

From Science Daily