cleft

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With his left hand he held a long stick, cleft at one end, and in the cleft was a letter Come here, Stomp," said Bessie, and as she spoke a wild hope shot across her heart like a meteor across the night: perhaps the letter was from John The dog obeyed her unwillingly enough, for evidently he did not like that Kafir; and when he saw that Stomp was well out of the way the Kafir himself followed.

View all »Definitions (28)

American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. verb A past tense and a past participle of cleave1.
  2. adjective Divided; split.
  3. adjective Botany Having indentations that extend about halfway to the center, as in certain leaves.

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  • With his left hand he held a long stick, cleft at one end, and in the cleft was a letter Come here, Stomp," said Bessie, and as she spoke a wild hope shot across her heart like a meteor across the night: perhaps the letter was from John The dog obeyed her unwillingly enough, for evidently he did not like that Kafir; and when he saw that Stomp was well out of the way the Kafir himself followed. —  Jess
  • This cleft is the gorge which to-day is called Cañon de las Bocas. —  The Delight Makers
  • This cleft is the only entrance to a valley three or four miles long, which lies in the very heart of the mountains. —  Views a-foot
  • Inside the cleft was a second guidance mark, which pointed right up it with the tip somewhat elevated, as if the spot indicated were above the level of the ground. —  The Lost World
  • In the cleft was a kind of curious snow, dry like sand, creaking and binding together under foot -- amazingly like pounded ice. —  Bog-Myrtle and Peat Tales Chiefly of Galloway Gathered from the Years 1889 to 1895
 

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Cleft has been looked up 286 times, favorited 0 times, listed 23 times, commented on twice, and has a Scrabble score of 10.

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View all »Etymologies (4)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. 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.

WordNet

 

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Pronunciations

/ (klĕft)/
by American Heritage Dictionary

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Occurrences of the word "cleft" per million words:

Chart?cht=lc&chs=300x180&chg=14

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