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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Cleft

Clĕft, imp. & p. p.

past tensepast participle

imp. & p. p. from cleave.

Clēft, n.

noun

n. [From cleave, to split, Ger. kluft. Cf. CLIFF.] 1. A space or opening made by splitting; a crack; a crevice; as, the cleft of a rock. Is. ii. 21. The cascades seem to break through the clefs and cracks of rocks. Addison.

  1. A piece made by splitting; as, a cleft of wood. [Written also clift.]
  2. (Far.) A disease in horses; a crack on the bend of the pastern.

Syn.—Crack; crevice; fissure; chink; cranny.