All 4 Uses of
cleave
in
Oliver Twist
- He bore in his right hand a tallow candle stuck in the end of a cleft stick.†
Chpt 16 (definition 1) *
- Then jumping to his feet, he snatched the cleft stick from the Dodger; and, advancing to Oliver, viewed him round and round; while the Jew, taking off his nightcap, made a great number of low bows to the bewildered boy.†
Chpt 16 (definition 1)
- Master Bates, apparently much delighted with his commission, took the cleft stick: and led Oliver into an adjacent kitchen, where there were two or three of the beds on which he had slept before; and here, with many uncontrollable bursts of laughter, he produced the identical old suit of clothes which Oliver had so much congratulated himself upon leaving off at Mr. Brownlow's; and the accidental display of which, to Fagin, by the Jew who purchased them, had been the very first clue…†
Chpt 16 (definition 1)
Uses with a very rare meaning:
- It fell straight, and true as a die; clove the water with a scarcely audible splash; and was gone.†
Chpt 38 (definition 2) *
Definitions:
-
(1) (cleave as in: cleave through) to split or cut through somethingeditor's notes: Ironically, this word can mean to split in two or to hold together.
Note that you may see cleaved, cleft, clove, or cloven as the past tense of this sense of cleave.
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)