All 8 Uses
cleave
in
The Iliad by Homer - (translated by: Edward)
(Auto-generated)
- Their pray'rs concluded, and the salt cake strew'd
Upon the victims' heads, they drew them back,
And slew, and flay'd; then cutting from the thighs
The choicest pieces, and in double layers
O'erspreading them with fat, above them plac'd
The due meat-off'rings; then the aged priest
The cleft wood kindled, and libations pour'd
Of ruddy wine; arm'd with the five-fork'd prongs
Th' attendant ministers beside him stood.†Chpt 1.1cleft = a split or crack in something"Editor's Notes"Cleft is the past tense of cleave like left is past tense of leave.
Today, cleft is most seen in the form cleft palate or cleft lip to refer to medical conditions at birth. - To whom the godlike Paris thus replied:
"Hector, I needs must own thy censure just,
Nor without cause; thy dauntless courage knows
Nor pause nor weariness; but as an axe,
That in a strong man's hand, who fashions out
Some naval timber, with unbated edge
Cleaves the firm wood, and aids the striker's force;
Ev'n so unwearied is thy warlike soul.†Chpt 1.3 - But from the side of Ajax Telamon
Stirr'd not a whit Oileus' active son;
But as on fallow-land with one accord,
Two dark-red oxen drag the well-wrought plough,
Streaming with sweat that gathers round their horns;
They by the polish'd yoke together held,
The stiff soil cleaving, down the furrow strain;
So closely, side by side, those two advanc'd.†Chpt 2.13 -
The head was cleft in twain;†Chpt 2.20 *cleft = a split or crack in something"Editor's Notes"Cleft is the past tense of cleave like left is past tense of leave.
Today, cleft is most seen in the form cleft palate or cleft lip to refer to medical conditions at birth.
Uses with a meaning too rare to warrant foucs:
- As when two neighbours, in a common field,
Each line in hand, within a narrow space,
About the limits of their land contend;
Between them thus the rampart drew the line;
O'er which the full-orb'd shields of tough bull's-hide,
And lighter bucklers on the warriors' breasts
On either side they clove; and many a wound
The pitiless weapons dealt, on some who, turn'd,
Their neck and back laid bare; on many more,
Who full in front, and through their shields were struck.†Chpt 2.12clove = a dried flower bud or section of a garlic plant - Hector approach'd, and on the ashen spear
Of Ajax, close behind the head, let fall
His mighty sword; right through he clove the wood;
And in his hand the son of Telamon
The headless shaft held bootless; far away,
Loud ringing, fell to earth the brazen point.†Chpt 2.16 * - Tros too he slew, Alastor's son, who came
To meet him, and embrace his knees, and pray
To spare his life, in pity of his youth:
Little he knew how vain would be his pray'r;
For not of temper soft, nor mild of mood
Was he, but sternly fierce; and as he knelt
And clasp'd his knees, and would his pray'r prefer,
Achilles clove him with his mighty sword,
Gash'd through the liver; as from out the wound
His liver dropp'd, the dark blood gushing forth
His bosom fill'd, and darkness clos'd his eyes,
As ebb'd his life away.†Chpt 2.20 - Their felling axes in their hands they bore,
And twisted ropes; their mules before them driv'n;
Now up, now down, now sideways, now aslope,
They journey'd on; but when they reach'd the foot
Of spring-abounding Ida, they began
With axes keen to hew the lofty oaks;
They, loudly crashing, fell: the wood they clove,
And bound it to the mules; these took their way
Through the thick brushwood, hurrying to the plain.†Chpt 2.23
Definitions:
-
(1)
(cleave as in: cleave through) to split or cut through somethingIronically, 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)
(cleave as in: cleave to) to hold firmly to something -- such as an object, a person or ideaIronically, this word can mean to split in two or to hold together.
Note that you may see cleaved, clove, or clave as the past tense of this sense of cleave. -
(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) a proper noun or other word too rare to warrant focus