Lexic.us

Definition of Cleavage

1. Noun. The state of being split or cleft. "There was a cleavage between the liberal and conservative members"

2. Noun. The breaking of a chemical bond in a molecule resulting in smaller molecules.

3. Noun. (embryology) the repeated division of a fertilised ovum.

4. Noun. The line formed by a groove between two parts (especially the separation between a woman's breasts).

5. Noun. The act of cleaving or splitting.

Definition of Cleavage

1. n. The act of cleaving or splitting.

Definition of Cleavage

1. Noun. The act of cleaving or the state of being cleft. (defdate from 19th c.) ¹

2. Noun. (minerology) The tendency of a crystal to split along specific planes. (defdate from 19th c.) ¹

3. Noun. (biology) The repeated division of a cell into daughter cells after mitosis. (defdate from 19th c.) ¹

4. Noun. The hollow or separation between a woman's breasts, especially as revealed by a low neckline. (defdate from 20th c.) ¹

5. Noun. (chemistry) The splitting of a large molecule into smaller ones. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Cleavage

1. the act of cleaving [n -S]

Medical Definition of Cleavage

1. The early divisions of the fertilized egg to form blastomeres. The cleavage pattern is radial in some phyla, spiral in others. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Cleavage

clearstory cleartext cleartexts clearway clearways clearweed clearweeds clearwing clearwings cleary

cleat cleated cleating cleats cleavable cleavage (current term) cleavage cavity cleavage cell cleavage division cleavage furrows

cleavage lines cleavage product cleavage site cleavage spindle cleavages cleave cleaved cleaved cell cleavelandite

Literary usage of Cleavage

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Field Geology by Frederic Henry Lahee (1917)
"which have already been folded and had a flow cleavage induced upon them in the ... In the latter case the fracture cleavage is nearly always preceded by ..."

2. The Early Embryology of the Chick by Bradley Merrill Patten (1920)
"Figure 5 shows the succession of the cleavage divisions in the egg of the pigeon. The diagrams represent surface views of the blastodisc and an area of the ..."

3. Journal of Morphology by Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology (1897)
"last-named classes, viz., that having reference to the symmetry of cleavage and that having reference to its prospective value in the developing organism. ..."

4. Text-book of Geology by Archibald Geikie (1893)
"The direction of cleavage usually remains persistent over considerable regions, and, ... Among curved rocks, the cleavage-planes may be seen traversing the ..."

5. A System of Mineralogy, Comprising the Most Recent Discoveries: Including by James Dwight Dana (1854)
"cleavage. The mineral mica, as is well known, easily splits into thin transparent plates or laminae. This is often effected with little more difficulty than ..."

6. A Text-book of Mineralogy: With an Extended Treatise on Crystallography and by Edward Salisbury Dana, William Ebenezer Ford (1922)
"cleavage in the Different Systems. — (1) In the ISOMETRIC SYSTEM, cleavage is cubic, when parallel to the faces of the cube; this is the common case, ..."

7. Report of the Annual Meeting (1856)
"Remark» on tiie cleavage of the Devonians of the South of Ireland. By Professors HARKNESS and BLYTH. The counties of Cork and Kerry present several features ..."

Other Resources: