cleave
verbVerb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they cleave | |
| he / she / it cleaves | |
| past simple cleaved | |
| past participle cleaved | |
| -ing form cleaving |
- [transitive] cleave something (old-fashioned or literary)
to split or cut something in two using something sharp and heavy 劈开；砍开；剁开 - [intransitive, transitive] (old-fashioned or literary)
to move quickly through something 迅速穿过；迅速穿越 - cleave through something
a ship cleaving through the water 破浪前进的船 - cleave something
The huge boat cleaved the darkness. 那艘巨轮在黑暗中破浪前行。 to cleave a path through the traffic 在车流中开辟一条路
- cleave through something
- [intransitive] cleave to something/somebody (literary)
to stick close to something/somebody 紧贴；紧挨 - [intransitive] cleave to something (formal)
to continue to believe in or support something 坚信；信守；忠于 to cleave to a belief/idea 坚守信仰／信念
Word Originsenses 1 to 2 Old English clēofan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch klieven and German klieben.senses 3 to 4 Old English cleofian, clifian, clīfan, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch kleven and German kleben, also to climb.
Idioms
be (caught) in a cleft stick
to be in a difficult situation when any action you take will have bad results 进退维谷；陷入困境