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say it: KLEE-vuhj
cleavage is a noun meaning "the state of being split or cleft". It is pronounced /ˈklivədʒ/ — KLEE-vuhj. It carries 5 recorded senses.
the state of being split or cleft
“there was a cleavage between the liberal and conservative members”
the breaking of a chemical bond in a molecule resulting in smaller molecules
(embryology) the repeated division of a fertilised ovum
embryology
the line formed by a groove between two parts (especially the separation between a woman's breasts)
the act of cleaving or splitting
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for cleavage come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.