cleave

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When the wind blows hard, and their branches and boughs thrash and creak, I am convinced they will topple over and cleave my home in twain.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

They are free to rein in the state legislature as long as they cleave reasonably close to their state constitutions and do not step outside interpretation into pure improvisation.

From Slate • Nov. 26, 2025

When it arrives, in simple letters against a black backdrop, it doesn’t so much introduce the film as cleave it in half.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2025

Viral genome sequences indicate the teen was infected with the type of H5N1 typically found in wild birds and that it had mutated to better cleave to the respiratory tract.

From Salon • Dec. 6, 2024

Partly it was the old pleasure that he always derived from mastering new tools and solving practical problems—working out the angles and planes at which the cedar would or wouldn’t cleave cleanly.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown