▪ I. cleave, n.1 Irish.
Also 6 cleefe.
[ad. Ir. cliabh basket, cage, chest.]
A basket. Hence cleaveful.
| 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 97/2 [He] wrapt the yoong patient as tenderlie as he could, and had him conueied in a cleefe with all speed to Ophalie. 1801 M. Edgeworth Castle Rackrent (1886) 39 A couple of cleavesful of the sods of his farm. 1882 Standard 8 Dec. 3/4 The body..was placed in a cleave, or basket used for carrying turf. 1886 J. H. Tuke Rept. Distrib. Seed Potato Fund, Hugh C—..has only two or three ‘cleaves’ of potatoes in the world. |
▪ II. cleave, n.2
(kliːv)
[f. cleave v.1]
A cleft.
| 1874 G. M. Hopkins Note-Bks. (1937) 204 Chudleigh Rocks..are a cliff over a deep and beautiful cleave. c 1881 ― Sermons (1959) 154 In that ‘cleave’ of being which each of his creatures shews to God's eyes alone. Ibid. 328 Like so many ‘cleaves’ or exposed faces of some pomegranates..cut in all directions across. |
▪ III. cleave
var. of cleve, cliff, steep declivity.
▪ IV. cleave, v.1
(kliːv)
Pa. tense clove, clave, cleaved, cleft; Pa. pple. cloven, clove, cleaved, cleft. Forms: see below.
[Common Teut.: OE. cl{iacu}ofan, cléofan, pa. tense cléaf, pl. clufon, pa. pple. clofen, corresp. to OS. clioƀan (MDu. clieven, clûven, Du. klieven), OHG. chlioban (MHG., mod.G. klieben), ON. klj{uacu}fa (Sw. klyfva, Da. klöve), not recorded in Gothic:—OTeut. type *kleuƀ-, klauƀ—kluƀum, kluƀano-, corresp. to pre-Teutonic *gleubh-, in Gr. γλυϕ- ‘to cut with a knife, carve’, and perh. L. glūb- ‘to peel, flay’.
The early ME. inflexion was cleoven (clēven), clêf (pl. cluven), cloven. Assimilation to the pa. pple. soon changed the plural of the pa. tense to cloven, clove, and by 14th c. clove was extended to the singular, where clêf, clêve, became obs. about 1500, making the later inflexion clēve, clōve, clōven. The pa. pple. had also the shortened form clove, which survives as a variant in poetry. A pa. tense clave occurs in northern writers in 14th c., passed into general use, and was very common down to c 1600; it survives as a Bible archaism. A weak inflexion cleaved came into use in 14th c.; and subsequently a form cleft; both are still used, cleft esp. in pa. pple., where it interchanges with cloven, with some differentiation in particular connexions, as ‘cleft stick’, ‘cloven foot’: see these words.
From the 14th c. the inflexional forms of this verb have tended to run together with those of cleave v.2 ‘to stick’. Though the latter was originally clive, it had also the variants cleove, clēve, the latter of which at length prevailed; the two verbs having thus become indentical in the present stem were naturally confused in their other inflexions. The (originally northern) pa. tense clave, which appeared in both in 14th. c., is not normal in either; it was apparently analogical, taken over from one of the other classes of strong vbs. having a in the past, as from breke, brak(e, broken, speke, spak(e, spoken. (It would of course be possible to explain the pa. tense singular clove in the same way.) The weak pa. tense and pa. pple. cleaved were probably mainly taken over from cleave v.2, where they were original; but they might also arise independently in this verb. For the subsequent shortening of cleaved to cleft, there was the obvious precedent of leave, left, bereave, bereft, etc.]
A. Forms.
1. pres. stem. (α) 1 cléofan, 2–4 cleove-n, 2–7 cleve, cleue, (4–5 clefe, clewe,) 5–6 cleeue.
| a 1000 Gloss. Prudent. (Record) 150 (Bosw.) Cleofan, scindere. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 61 He wile smite..mid egge and cleuen. c 1300 K. Alis. 7702 Many an hed wolde Y cleove. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6736 Þair hertes sal nere clewe [v.r. clefe]. 1483 Cath. Angl. 67 To cleve, scindere. 1578 Lyte Dodoens vi. lxxxii. 762 Which will soone riue, or cleeue asunder. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Hoof hurt, The horn doth crack and cleve. |
(β) 6– cleave, (cleaue).
| 1530 Palsg. 486/2, I cleave a sonder. 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 112 b, It cleaveth soonest by the fyre. 1610 W. Folkingham Art Surv. i. viii. 17 That Earth, that..doth clift and cleaue. 1697 Dryden Virg., Pref. to Past., The homely Employment of cleaving Blocks. |
(γ) 5 clyu-yn, 5–6 clyue (-ve), 6 clyffe, 6–7 cliue (-ve).
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 82 Clyvyn or Parte a-sundyr a[s] men doone woode, findo. 1558 Phaër æneid v. (1573) N iiij, Along by heauen his arow driues..therwith the skies he cliues. 1570 Levins Manip. 117 To clyffe, scindere. 1575 Turberv. Venerie 135 Clyve the sides one from another. 1651 Raleigh's Appar. 90 To cliue and pierce the air. 1686 Wilding in Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) I. 264 For Wood & cliving it..4s. 10d. |
2. pa. tense. (α) sing. 1 cléaf, 2–3 clæf, 3 clef, 4–5 cleef, clefe, 5 cleve; rare pl. 4 clef.
| c 1205 Lay. 21390 Enne cniht atwa [he] clæf. a 1300 Fall & Pass. in E.E.P. 70 (1862) 14 Hi..clef is swet hert atwo. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 326 Þe walle þorghout þei clef. c 1400 Mandeville viii. 86 The Roche cleef in two. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7318 He clefe hym to þe coler. c 1440 Generydes 3035 He cleue a ij his hede. |
(β) pl. 1 clufon, 3 cluuen (= -ven), 4 clowen (= -ven), 4– cloue, clove; sing. 4–7 cloue, (4 clowe, 5 clofe, 6 cloaue), 4– clove (kləʊv).
| 937 Batt. Brunanb. in O.E. Chron., Bordweal clufan afaran Eadweardes. c 1205 Lay. 1920 His ban to-cluuen. a 1300 Cursor M. 7810 (Gött.) His herte in tua i wat i clowe [v.r. claif, claue, cleef]. c 1300 K. Alis. 2765 This Thebes seyghen how men heom clowen. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 5169 Clofe the heid in twoo. 1490 Caxton Eneydos li. 144 Eneas..cloue hym vnto the teeth. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxviii. 15 He cloaue the hard rockes. 1605 Shakes. Lear i. iv. 175 When thou clouest thy Crownes i'th' middle. 1702 Rowe Tamerl. v. i. 2203, I clove the Villain down. 1883 Longm. Mag. July 286 Into..the crowd porters clove their way with shouts. |
(γ) 4–7 claue, (4–6 claif(f, 5 claf, clafe, claffe), 6– clave (kleɪv).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6262 (Cott.) It claue [v.r. clef, cleef, cleue], and gaue þam redi gat. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 633 He the hede till the harnyss claiff [v.r. clafe]. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 4752 He clafe his shelde in twoo. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. (1880) 169 Hyt claffe a marble stone. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xviii. i. (1889) 689 He claf his helme. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 305 He claue him to the sholders. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 599 Richt to the schulderis doun he claif his heid. 1563 Homilies ii. Death & Pass. Christ ii. (1859) 422 The stones clave a sunder. 1611 Bible Ps. lxxviii. 15 Hee claue the rockes in the wildernes. 1755 Wesley Wks. (1872) II. 331 The earth also clave asunder. 1885 Bible (Rev.) Ps. lxxviii. 13 He clave the sea. |
(δ) 4–5 cleued(e, cleved(e, (5 -wed, -vyd, cleufit), 8–9 cleaved (kliːvd).
| c 1300 K. Alis. 2340 A fayr baroun, He cleved to the breste adoun. Ibid. 3790 He clewyd his scheld. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4034 fflodys..into caues..cleufit the erthe. a 1440 Sir Eglam. 746 He clevyd hym by the rugge-bone. 1762 Falconer Shipw. i. (R.) She cleav'd the wat'ry plain. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xlvii. (1856) 444 As they cleaved the misty atmosphere. |
(ε) 6– cleft (klɛft).
| ? a 1500 Chester Pl. (1847) ii. 70 The roccke that never before clyfte Clave that men mighte knowe. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 19 It..cleft his head. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 438 As the Red Sea and Jordan once he cleft. 1752 Young Brothers i. i, I cleft yon Alpine rocks. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 406 She cleft it with her lover's brand. |
3. pa. pple. (α) 1–2 clofen, 2–7 clouen, 2– cloven (ˈkləʊv(ə)n).
| c 910 Charter Eadweard in Cod. Dipl. V. 179 Ofær ea on clofenan hlinc. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4420 Lite failled þat he ne had Clouen þe hed. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 18 When þou hase..Clovyn hom. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 55 The stalke being tenderly cloven. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. I. viii. 182 Having cloven his head with many blows. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §1. 1 Cloven into thin plates. |
(β) 4–5 clove, yclove, 8– poet. clove (kləʊv).
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 49 To haue y cloue hym al þat hed. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 738 Tisbe, This wal..Was cloue a two. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1033 Þe armes..from hurr' body y clove so was. 1719 Young Revenge v. ii, Till I had clove thy crest. c 1800 K. White Gondol. lxiv, His head, half clove in two. |
(γ) 4–5 cleued, 7– cleaved (kliːvd). (Always used in Min. and Geol.)
| c 1400 St. Alexius (Laud 622) Whan þe whal was to⁓cleued. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 353 A rodde, cleuede in the hier parte of it. 1694 Narborough Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 51 Cleaved in his Quarters. 1818 W. Phillips Outl. Min. & Geol. (ed. 3) 16 The topaz can only be readily cleaved in one direction. 1830 A. Fonblanque Eng. under Seven Administr. (1837) II. 35 A force that would have cleaved an elephant in twain. |
(δ) 5– cleft.
| 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxvii. 51 Stoonys ben cleft [v.r. clouen, 1388 weren cloue]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. lx. (1495) 176 The synewe whyche is slytte and clouen..for yf a veyne be slytte and clefte. 1530 Palsg. 486/2 As wodde is clefte. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. v. iv. 103 How oft hast thou with periury cleft the roote? 1755 Wesley Wks. (1872) II. 331 One part of the solid stone is cleft from the rest. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) I. 352 His steel cap cleft in twain. |
¶ cloved, pa. tense and pple.: ? error for cleved.
| 14.. Tundale's Vis. 1200 As he was clofy-d, styll he stod. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ii. 61 He cloued hym to the teeth. |
B. Signification.
1. trans. To part or divide by a cutting blow; to hew asunder; to split. Properly used of parting wood, or the like, ‘along the grain’, i.e. between its parallel fibres; hence, of dividing anything in the direction of its length, height, or depth; also, of dividing slate or crystals along their cleavage planes, and other things at their joints.
| a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia IX. 261 In miclum ᵹefyrstum timber cleofan. c 1300 Havelok 917 Ful wel kan ich cleuen shides. 1481 Caxton Reynard viii. (Arb.) 14 A grete oke whiche he had begonne to cleue. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 261 She would haue made Hercules..haue cleft his club to make the fire. 1611 Bible Gen. xxii. 3 Abraham..claue the wood for the burnt offering. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 484 The Dog-star cleaves the thirsty Ground. 1705 Otway Orphan ii. iii. 516, I..clove the Rebel to the Chine. 1722 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iii. 205 A butcher swore he would cleave her head. 1823 H. J. Brooke Introd. Crystallogr. 44 If a cube of blende..be cleaved in directions parallel to its diagonal planes. 1872 E. Peacock Mabel Heron iv. 55 The sections into which our society is cleft. |
b. Often with asunder, in two, etc. to cleave down: to cut down.
| c 1205, etc. [See A 2 α]. c 1300 K. Alis. 2231 A-two [he] cleued his scheld. c 1320 Sir Beues 4514 Man and hors he cleuede doun. c 1490 Adam Bel & Clym C. 601 Cloudesly..Claue the wand in to. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 39 The knotty sting Of his huge taile he quite in sunder cleft. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. i. 63 To cleaue a heart in twaine. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 610 The mountain being cloven asunder. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 361 He was cloven down while struggling in the press. |
c. To pierce and penetrate (air, water, etc.). Also to cleave one's way through.
| 1558 and 1651 [see A 1 γ]. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 433 At their passing cleave the Assyrian flood. 1704 Pope Windsor For. 188 The fierce eagle cleaves the liquid sky. 1791 Cowper Iliad ix. 447 Cleaving with my prows The waves of Hellespont. 1827 Carlyle Richter Misc., Whose wailings have cleft the general ear. 1852 Conybeare & H. St. Paul (1862) I. ix. 263 The vessel..would soon cleave her way through the strait. 1877 L. Morris Epic Hades ii. 175 No sunbeam cleaves the twilight. |
d. To intersect, penetrate, or fissure, in position.
| 1808 J. Barlow Columb. i. 247 Thine is the stream; it cleaves the well known coast. 1874 H. Reynolds John Bapt. iv. 232 Caverns which still cleave the limestone rocks. |
e. Phrases. † to cleave a hair: cf. ‘to split hairs’. † to cleave the pin: (in archery) to hit the pin in the centre of the white of the butts (see pin); hence fig.
| 1586 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. ii. iv, For kings are clouts that every man shoots at, Our crown the pin that thousands seek to cleave. 1592 Shakes., Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 15 The very pinne of his heart cleft with the blind Bowe-boyes but-shaft. a 1626 Middleton No Wit like Woman's (N.), I'll cleave the black pin i' the midst of the white. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. vi. §31 To cleave an hair betwixt the spiritual and temporal jurisdiction. Ibid. ix. iii. §14 M{supr}. Fox came not up in all particulars to cleave the pin of Conformity (as refusing to subscribe) yet, etc. |
2. To separate or sever by dividing or splitting.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 27743 (Cott.) Man[s] aun wiit it fra him cleuisse. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 320 Fro þe body his heued..did he cleue. 1420 [see A 3 β]. 1575 [see A 1 γ]. 1755 [see A 3 δ]. 1857–8 Sears Athan. ix. 74 To cleave away our effete coverings. 1873 Mrs. Charles in Sunday Mag. June 625 The dreadful chasm cleaving us into separate existence was gone. |
3. intr. (for refl.). To split or fall asunder.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2027 Hit bigon to claterin al & to cleouen. a 1300 Cursor M. 6251 Þou sal see it cleue in tua. Ibid. 24419 Þe stanes claf. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 61 Þe wal wagged and clef. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 82 Clyue, or ryue by the selfe, rimo, risco. 1575 Turberv. Falconrie 302 The beake beginneth to ryve and clive from hir head. 1611 Bible Numb. xvi. 31 The ground claue asunder. a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. 220 The vaile of the Temple shall cleave in twaine. 1704 Newton Opticks (J.), It cleaves with a glossy polite substance. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 99 He struck the earth with his feet, and it clove asunder, and swallowed him. |
4. intr. To cleave one's way, penetrate, pass.
| 1655 Francion x. 18 Cleaving through the Presse, he did approach unto him, etc. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude iii. (1850) 68 Through the inferior throng I clove Of the plain Burghers. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxix, As our swift frigate cleaved through the water. 1865 Swinburne Poems & Ball., Lament. 74, I have cleft through the sea-straits narrow. |
▪ V. cleave, v.2
(kliːv)
Pa. tense cleaved, clave; Pa. pple. cleaved. Forms: see below.
[OE. had two verbs; cl{iacu}fan str. (*cláf, pl. clifon, clifen), and clifian, cleofian weak (clifode, -od). (1) The former was a Com. Teut. strong vb., in OS. biklîƀan to adhere (MDu. clîƀan to cling, climb, Du. beklijven to adhere, stick), OHG. chlîban (MHG. rare, klîban) to adhere, stick, ON. klîfa to clamber, climb by clinging:—OTeut. *klîƀ-an, perhaps ultimately f. simpler root kli- to stick: cf. climb, clay, clam. Of this strong vb. OE. shows only a few examples of the present, its place being generally taken by (2) the derivative clifian, corresp. to OS. cliƀon (MDu. clēven, Du. kleven), OHG. chlebên (MHG. and G. kleben):—OTeut. *kliƀôjan, f. weak stem kliƀ- of the strong vb. This had in OE. the variants cliofian, cleofian (with o or u fracture of i; cf. lifian, leofian, to live, Sc. leeve), whence in ME. clive, and clēve, cleeve; the latter finally prevailed, and is now written cleave. Instead of the normal pa. tense and pple. clived, cleved, we find also from 14th c. clave, occas. clef, clof, clove, and in 17th c. cleft; in the pple. clave, clove, and cleft. At present cleave, cleaved, is the ordinary inflexion, but the influence of the Bible of 1611, in which clave is frequent (beside, and in the same sense as, cleaved), has made that an admissible form: clove, cleft are now left to cleave v.1
The final predominance of cleve rather than clive as the ME. form made the present stem identical in form with that of cleave v.1 to split. Hence their inflexional forms were naturally also confused, and to some extent blended or used indiscriminately. The pa. tense clave attached itself in the 14th c. to both; in this verb it corresponds to the original strong pa. tense *cláf, but does not appear to be continuous with it; it was prob. a new form due to analogy: see note to cleave v.1 The occasional pa. tense clef belongs properly to cleave v.1; as perhaps also clof, clove. (The occas. pa. pples. clave, clove, are from the pa. tense) The weak inflexion cleaved is of course proper to this verb, and prob. was transferred hence to cleave v.1 The shortened cleft found in both, appears to be due to the analogy of leave, left, bereave, -reft. To the same analogy is probably due the mod. spelling cleave in both verbs: this is not etymological, for both words had close e in ME., and would properly now be cleeve or clieve.]
A. Forms.
1. pres. stem. (α) 1 cl{iacu}fan, clifian, 3–6 cliue(n, clyue(n, (4 clyuy), 6 clive (klɪv).
| a 1000 in Thorpe Hom. II. 530 (Bosw.) Ðin tunge clifað to ðinum gomum. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 372 And erðe freten wile he mai liuen, And atter [shall] on is tunge cliuen. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1901 Þat al þy breyn scholde clyue al aboute ys fuste. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 30 b, Festened or clyved upon the belly. 1563 T. Gale Antidot. ii. 8 They wyll..cliue to the handes. |
(β) 1 clio-, cleofian, 3 cleou-, 4 cleuien, 4–6 cleue(n, 5 cleuy, clefe, cleeue, cleve, 6 cleeve.
| a 1000 Whale 73 (Gr.) Þa þe him on cleofiað. c 1205 Lay. 1960 Þe nome..a summe stede cleouieð faste. c 1450 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 562 Adhereo, to cleuy to. 1483 Cath. Angl. 67 Cleve to, herere. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 36 Cleeve to him. 1568 Grafton Chron. Edw. IV, II. 699 To cleve to King Henry. a 1600 Chester Pl. (1843–7) 214 To them..Which cleeve to me allwaie. |
(γ) 6– cleave (cleaue).
| 1530 Palsgr. 486/2 My shyrte cleaveth to my backe. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iii. 211 The water stil cleaueth vpon them. 1581, 1635, etc. [see B. 2, 4]. |
2. Past tense. (α) 1 clif-, cliof-, cleofede, 3–5 clivede, 3–6 clevede, 6– cleaved.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke x. 11 Þæt dust þæt of eowre ceastre on urum fotum clifode [1140 clyofede, 1160 clefede]. c 1300 Havelok 1300 Al that euere in Denemark liueden On mine armes faste clyueden. 1388 Wyclif Luke x. 11 The poudir that cleued [1382 cleuyde] to vs. 1480 [see B 1]. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 533 He..cleved to the Frenche king. 1763 [see B 4]. 1855 Tennyson Maud iii. vi. iii, I cleaved to a cause that I felt to be pure and true. |
(β) 7 cleft.
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xvii. 359 The foes cleft one to other. a 1626 Bp. Andrewes Serm. (1641) The core of corruption that cleft to our nature and to us. |
(γ) 4 claf, (claif), 4–7 claue, 7– clave (kleɪv).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 20745 His hend claf [Gött. clef, Fairf. cleued] to þat ber fast. Ibid. 20954 A gast..Þat in a maiden bodi claue [Gött. claif, Trin. clof]. 1611 Bible Ruth i. 14 Ruth claue vnto her. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. ii. 60 Many of the Danes..clave to their ancient worship. 1887 Hall Caine Son of Hagar II. ii. xiii. 43 His tongue clave to his mouth. |
(δ) 4 clef; (ε) 4 clof, 7–9 clove.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 20745 (Gött.) His hend clef to þe bere fast. c 1340 Ibid. 20954 (Trin.) Þat in a maydenes body clof. 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. (1851) Pref. 10 You say, their tongues clove to the roof of their mouths..I wish they had clove there to this day. 1885 E. Arnold Secr. Death 10 Bethink How those of old, the saints, clove to their word. |
3. pa. pple. (α) 1 clifod, cleofod, 3–6 cleued, 6 clyued, 6–9 cleaved.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 73 Als hit cleued were. 1535 Coverdale Job xxxi. 5 Yf I haue cleued vnto vanitie. 1837 J. J. Blunt Plain Serm. Ser. iii. (1861) 256 That the Formularies of the Church..should be cleaved unto. |
(β) 7 cleft.
| 1641 Brome Joviall Crew iii. Wks. 1873 III. 411 Unlesse..you have at least cleft or slept together. |
(γ) 7 clave, clove.
| 1642 Rogers Naaman 16 Had they clave to their duty. 1692 [see 2 δ, clove]. |
B. Signification.
1. To stick fast or adhere, as by a glutinous surface, to († on, upon, in). (The perfect tenses were formerly formed with be.)
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xlvii. 361 His flæsces lima clifað ælc on oðrum. c 1000 ælfric Lev. i. 8 Ealle þa þinᵹ þe to þære lifre clifiaþ. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 73 Cleued bi mi tunge to mine cheken gif ich forgete þe ierusalem. a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 229 Ren-forst..cleveth in hegges al aboute. c 1430 Cookery Bk. 21 Ȝif it cleuey, let it boyle. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. cci. 182 A drope of drye blode..cleued on his hond. 1535 Coverdale Job xxix. 10 Their tonges cleued [1611 cleaued] to the rofe of their mouthes. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 30 b, A pece of papir, the bignes of a groate, festened or clyued vpon the belly. 1592 Greene in Shaks. C. Praise 2 Unto none of you..sought those burres to cleaue. 1626 Bacon Sylva §293 Water in small quantity cleaveth to any thing that is solid. 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle L. vi. 155 Huge masses of masonry, which seem to cleave to the bare rock. |
2. fig. (Formerly said of attributes or adjuncts).
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xvi. §3 Nu hi [wealth & power] willaþ clifian [v.r. cliofian] on þæm wyrstan monnum. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 1195 Bot ay wolde man of happe more hente Þen moȝten by ryȝt vpon hem clyuen. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 329 For kynde cleueth [v.r. clyueþ] on hym euere to contrarie þe soule. 1488 Caxton Chast. Goddes Chyld. xxv. 73 The rote of his olde sinne cleuyth alway upon hym. 1581 R. Goade in Confer. ii. (1584) L iiij, It is no righteousnes cleauing in vs but in Christ. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxix. §2 The very opportunities which we ascribe to time cleave to the things themselves wherewith time is joined. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 68 ¶2 The Pains and Anguish which naturally cleave to our Existence in this World. 1790 Paley Horæ Paul. (1849) 396 A peculiar word or phrase cleaving, as it were, to the memory. 1859 Tennyson Lancelot & Elaine 37 A horror lived about the tarn, and clave Like its own mists to all the mountain side. |
3. In wider sense: To cling or hold fast to; to attach oneself (by grasping, etc.) to († on, upon, in).
| c 1300 [see A. 2 α]. 1382 Wyclif Song of Sol. viii. 5 What is she this..faste cleuende vpon [v.r. to] hir leef? [Vulg. innixa super dilectum suum.] 1481 Caxton Myrr. ii. vi. 76 Yf the culeuure clyue & be on tholyfaunt. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 185 The little Worme..cleaving so to the Coame, as hee seemeth to be tied. |
4. To adhere or cling to (a person, party, principle, practice, etc.); to remain attached, devoted, or faithful to. (= adhere v. 2, 3.)
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 211, I trow on him gan cleue many riche present. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 219, I conseille alle crystene cleue [v.r. clyue] nouȝte þer-on to sore. 1382 Wyclif Ephes. v. 31 He schal clyue to his wyf. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxvi. 233 In this tyme Englysshmen moche haunted and cleued to the wodenes and folye of the straungers. 1534 Tindale Rom. xii. 9 Cleave [other 16th c. vv. cleaue] vnto that which is good. 1556 Abp. Parker Psalter cix. 26 O helpe me Lorde..to thee alone I clive. 1635 Swan Spec. M. iii. §2. (1643) 48 To leave the literall sense..and to cleave unto Allegories. 1763 Wesley Wks. (1872) III. 140 My natural will ever cleaved to evil. 1777 Burke Addr. King Wks. 1842 II. 403 We exhort you..to cleave for ever to those principles. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. V. xxiii. 171 The mercenary soldiers..clave to King Henry. |
† 5. To remain steadfast, stand fast, abide, continue. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 9389 For nis nauere nan oðer gomen þat cleouieð alswa ueste. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2384 Al egipte in his wil cliueð. 1340 [see cleaving ppl. a.2] 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. iv. xi. (T.) The apostles did conform the Christians..and made them cleave the better. |
6. trans. To attach to. arch. rare.
| 1958 T. H. White Once & Future King iii. xxviii. 460 He didna cleave importance tae it, but told the people for its worth. 1979 A. Fraser King Charles II ii. vii. 98 The real theme of the coronation—to cleave the Scottish people to their young King. |
▪ VI. cleave
obs. form of clef.