CLEAVABLE
Cleav"a*ble, a.
Defn: Capable of cleaving or being divided.
CLEAVAGE
Cleav"age, n.
1. The act of cleaving or splitting.
2. (Crystallog.)
Defn: The quality possessed by many crystallized substances of splitting readily in one or more definite directions, in which the cohesive attraction is a minimum, affording more or less smooth surfaces; the direction of the dividing plane; a fragment obtained by cleaving, as of a diamond. See Parting.
3. (Geol.)
Defn: Division into laminæ, like slate, with the lamination not necessarily parallel to the plane of deposition; — usually produced by pressure. Basal cleavage, cleavage parallel to the base of a crystal, or to the plane of the lateral axes. — Cell cleavage (Biol.), multiplication of cells by fission. See Segmentation. — Cubuc cleavage, cleavage parallel to the faces of a cube. — Diagonal cleavage, cleavage parallel to ta diagonal plane. — Egg clavage. (Biol.) See Segmentation. — Lateral cleavage, cleavage parallel to the lateral planes. — Octahedral, Dodecahedral, or Rhombohedral, cleavage, cleavage parallel to the faces of an octahedron, dodecahedron, or rhombohedron. — Prismatic cleavage, cleavage parallel to a vertical prism.
CLEAVE Cleave, v. i. [.. Cleaved (, Clave (, (Obs.); p. p. Cleaved; p. pr. & vb. n. Cleaving.] Etym: [OE. cleovien, clivien, cliven, AS. cleofian, clifian; akin to OS. klibon, G. kleben, LG. kliven, D. kleven, Dan. klæbe, Sw. klibba, and also to G. kleiben to cleve, paste, Icel. klifa to climb. Cf. Climb.]
1. To adhere closely; to stick; to hold fast; to cling. My bones cleave to my skin. Ps. cii. 5. The diseases of Egypt . . . shall cleave unto thee. Deut. xxviii. 60. Sophistry cleaves close to and protects Sin's rotten trunk, concealing its defects. Cowper.