Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Cleft

Cleft (klĕft), imp. & p. p. from Cleave.

Cleft, a. 1. Divided; split; partly divided or split.

2. (Bot.) Incised nearly to the midrib; as, a cleft leaf.

Cleft, n. [OE. clift; cf. Sw. klyft cave, den, Icel. kluft cleft, Dan. klöft, G. kluft. See Cleave to split and cf. 2d Clift, 1st Clough.] 1. A space or opening made by splitting; a crack; a crevice; as, the cleft of a rock. Is. ii. 21.

2. A piece made by splitting; as, a cleft of wood.

3. (Far.) A disease in horses; a crack on the band of the pastern.

Branchial clefts. See under Branchial.

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

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.