Cleave Cleave (klēv) transitive verb [ imperfect Cleft (klĕft), Clave (klāv, Obsolete), Clove (klōv, Obsolescent); past participle Cleft , Cleaved (klēvd) or Cloven (klō"v'n); present participle & verbal noun Cleaving .] [ Middle English cleoven , cleven , Anglo-Saxon cleófan ; akin to Old Saxon klioban , Dutch klooven , German klieben , Icelandic kljūfa , Swedish klyfva , Danish klöve and probably to Greek gly`fein to carve, Latin glubere to peel. Confer Cleft .] 1. To part or divide by force; to split or rive; to cut.

O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.
Shak.

2. To part or open naturally; to divide.

Every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws.
Deut. xiv. 6.

Cleave Cleave intransitive verb To part; to open; to crack; to separate; as parts of bodies; as, the ground cleaves by frost.

The Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst.
Zech. xiv. 4.

Cleavelandite Cleave"land·ite noun [ From Professor Parker Cleaveland .] (Min.) A variety of albite, white and lamellar in structure.

Cleaver Cleav"er noun One who cleaves, or that which cleaves; especially, a butcher's instrument for cutting animal bodies into joints or pieces.

Cleavers Cleav"ers noun [ From Cleave to stick.] (Botany) A species of Galium ( G. Aparine ), having a fruit set with hooked bristles, which adhere to whatever they come in contact with; -- called also, goose grass , catchweed , etc.

Cléché Clé`ché" adjective [ French cléché .] (Her.) Charged with another bearing of the same figure, and of the color of the field, so large that only a narrow border of the first bearing remains visible; -- said of any heraldic bearing. Compare Voided .

Clechy Cle"chy adjective See Cléché .

Cledge Cledge noun [ Confer Clay .] (Mining.) The upper stratum of fuller's earth.

Cledgy Cledg"y adjective Stiff, stubborn, clayey, or tenacious; as, a cledgy soil. Halliwell.

Clee Clee (klē) noun A claw. [ Obsolete] Holland.

Clee Clee noun (Zoology) The redshank.

Cleek Cleek noun 1. A large hook or crook, as for a pot over a fire; specif., an iron-headed golf club with a straight, narrow face and a long shaft.

2. Act of cleeking; a clutch. [ Scot.]

Cleek Cleek transitive verb [ pret. Claught ; pret. & past participle Cleeked ; present participle & verbal noun Cleeking .] [ Middle English cleken , clechen , to seize, clutch; perhaps akin to English clutch .] [ Scot & Dial. Eng.] 1. To seize; clutch; snatch; catch; pluck.

2. To catch or draw out with a cleek, as a fish; to hook.

3. To hook or link (together); hence, to marry. Scott.

Clef Clef (klĕf; 277) noun [ French clef key, a key in music, from Latin clavis key. See Clavicle .] (Mus.) A character used in musical notation to determine the position and pitch of the scale as represented on the staff.

» The clefs are three in number, called the C, F, and G clefs , and are probably corruptions or modifications of these letters. They indicate that the letters of absolute pitch belonging to the lines upon which they are placed, are respectively C, F, and G. The F or bass clef , and the G or treble clef , are fixed in their positions upon the staff. The C clef may have three positions. It may be placed upon the first or lower line of the staff, in which case it is called soprano clef , upon the third line, in which case it called alto clef , or upon the fourth line, in which case tenor clef . It rarely or never is placed upon the second line, except in ancient music. See other forms of C clef under C, 2.

Alto clef , Bass clef . See under Alto , Bass .

Cleft Cleft (klĕft), imperfect & past participle from Cleave .

Cleft Cleft adjective 1. Divided; split; partly divided or split.

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

Cleft Cleft noun [ Middle English clift ; confer Swedish klyft cave, den, Icelandic kluft cleft, Danish klöft , German kluft . See Cleave to split and confer 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.

Cleft-footed Cleft"-foot`ed adjective Having a cloven foot.

Cleftgraft Cleft"graft` transitive verb To ingraft by cleaving the stock and inserting a scion. Mortimer.

Cleg Cleg noun [ Northern Eng. & Scot. gleg : confer Gael. crethleag .] (Zoology) A small breeze or horsefly. [ North of Eng. & Scot.] Jamieson.

Cleistogamic, Cleistogamous Cleis`to·gam"ic, Cleis·tog"a·mous adjective [ Greek ... closed (fr. ... to shut) + ga`mos marriage.] (Botany) Having, beside the usual flowers, other minute, closed flowers, without petals or with minute petals; -- said of certain species of plants which possess flowers of two or more kinds, the closed ones being so constituted as to insure self-fertilization. Darwin.

Clem Clem (klĕm) transitive verb & i. [ Confer clam to clog, or German klemmen to pinch, Icelandic klömbra , English clamp .] To starve; to famish. [ Obsolete] B. Jonson.

Clematis Clem"a·tis (klĕm"ȧ*tĭs) noun [ New Latin , from Greek klhmati`s brushwood, also (from its long, lithe branches) clematis. from klh^ma twig, shoot, from kla^n to break off.] (Botany) A genus of flowering plants, of many species, mostly climbers, having feathery styles, which greatly enlarge in the fruit; -- called also virgin's bower .

Clemence Clem"ence noun Clemency. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Clemency Clem"en·cy noun ; plural Clemencies . [ Latin clementia , from clemens mild, calm.] 1. Disposition to forgive and spare, as offenders; mildness of temper; gentleness; tenderness; mercy.

Great clemency and tender zeal toward their subjects.
Stowe.

They had applied for the royal clemency .
Macaulay.

2. Mildness or softness of the elements; as, the clemency of the season.

Syn. -- Mildness; tenderness; indulgence; lenity; mercy; gentleness; compassion; kindness.

Clement Clem"ent adjective [ Latin clemens ; -entis ; confer French cl...ment .] Mild in temper and disposition; merciful; compassionate. Shak.

-- Clem"ent*ly , adverb

Clementine Clem"ent·ine adjective Of or pertaining to Clement, esp. to St. Clement of Rome and the spurious homilies attributed to him, or to Pope Clement V. and his compilations of canon law.

Clench Clench noun & transitive verb See Clinch .

Cleopatra's needle Cle`o·pa"tra's nee"dle [ So named after Cleopatra , queen of Egypt.] Either of two obelisks which were moved in ancient times from Heliopolis to Alexandria, one of which is now on the Thames Embankment in London, and the other in Central Park, in the City of New York.

» Some writers consider that only the obelisk now in Central Park is properly called Cleopatra's needle .

Clepe Clepe (klēp) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Cleped (klēp"ĕd) or (klēpt); present participle & verbal noun Cleping . Confer Ycleped .] [ Anglo-Saxon clepan , cleopian , clipian , clypian , to cry, call.] To call, or name. [ Obsolete]

That other son was cleped Cambalo.
Chaucer.

Clepe Clepe intransitive verb To make appeal; to cry out. [ Obsolete]

Wandering in woe, and to the heavens on high
Cleping for vengeance of this treachery.
Mir. for Mag.

Clepsine Clep"si·ne noun (Zoology) A genus of fresh-water leeches, furnished with a proboscis. They feed upon mollusks and worms.

Clepsydra Clep"sy·dra noun [ Latin from Greek ...; ... to steal, conceal + ... water.] A water clock; a contrivance for measuring time by the graduated flow of a liquid, as of water, through a small aperture. See Illust. in Appendix .

Cleptomania Clep`to·ma"ni·a noun [ New Latin ] See Kleptomania .

Clerestory Clere"sto`ry (klēr"stō`rȳ) noun Same as Clearstory .

Clergeon Cler"geon (klẽr"jŭn) noun [ French, dim. of clerc . See Clerk .] A chorister boy. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Clergial Cler"gi·al adjective Learned; erudite; clerical. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Clergical Cler"gi·cal adjective Of or pertaining to the clergy; clerical; clerkily; learned. [ Obsolete] Milton.

Clergy Cler"gy noun [ Middle English clergie , clergi , clerge , Old French clergie , French clergie (fr. clerc clerc, from Latin clericus priest) confused with Old French clergié , French clergé , from Late Latin clericatus office of priest, monastic life, from Latin clericus priest, Late Latin scholar, clerc. Both the Old French words meant clergy, in sense 1, the former having also sense 2. See Clerk .]

1. The body of men set apart, by due ordination, to the service of God, in the Christian church, in distinction from the laity; in England, usually restricted to the ministers of the Established Church. Hooker.

2. Learning; also, a learned profession. [ Obsolete]

Sophictry . . . rhetoric, and other cleargy .
Guy of Warwick.

Put their second sons to learn some clergy .
State Papers (1515).

3. The privilege or benefit of clergy.

If convicted of a clergyable felony, he is entitled equally to his clergy after as before conviction.
Blackstone.

Benefit of clergy (Eng., Law) , the exemption of the persons of clergymen from criminal process before a secular judge -- a privilege which was extended to all who could read, such persons being, in the eye of the law, clerici , or clerks. This privilege was abridged and modified by various statutes, and finally abolished in the reign of George IV. (1827). -- Regular clergy , Secular clergy See Regular , noun , and Secular , adjective

Clergyable Cler"gy·a·ble adjective Entitled to, or admitting, the benefit of clergy; as, a clergyable felony. Blackstone.

Clergyman Cler"gy·man noun ; plural Clergymen . An ordained minister; a man regularly authorized to preach the gospel, and administer its ordinances; in England usually restricted to a minister of the Established Church.

Cleric Cler"ic noun [ Anglo-Saxon , from Latin clericus . See Clerk .] A clerk, a clergyman. [ R.] Bp. Horsley.

Cleric Cler"ic adjective Same as Clerical .

Clerical Cler"ic·al adjective [ Late Latin clericalis . See Clerk .] 1. Of or pertaining to the clergy; suitable for the clergy. "A clerical education." Burke.

2. Of or relating to a clerk or copyist, or to writing. " Clerical work." E. Everett.

A clerical error , an error made in copying or writing.

Clericalism Cler"ic·al·ism noun An excessive devotion to the interests of the sacerdotal order; undue influence of the clergy; sacerdotalism.

Clericity Cler·ic"i·ty noun The state of being a clergyman.

Clerisy Cler"i·sy noun [ Late Latin clericia . See Clergy .] 1. The literati, or well educated class.

2. The clergy, or their opinions, as opposed to the laity.

Clerk Clerk (klẽrk; in Eng. klärk; 277) noun [ Either Old French clerc , from Latin clericus a priest, or Anglo-Saxon clerc , cleric , clerk, priest, from Latin clericus , from Greek klhriko`s belonging to the clergy, from klh^ros lot, allotment, clergy; confer Deut. xviii. 2. Confer Clergy .] 1. A clergyman or ecclesiastic. [ Obsolete]

All persons were styled clerks that served in the church of Christ.
Ayliffe.

2. A man who could read; a scholar; a learned person; a man of letters. [ Obsolete] "Every one that could read . . . being accounted a clerk ." Blackstone.

He was no great clerk , but he was perfectly well versed in the interests of Europe.
Burke.

3. A parish officer, being a layman who leads in reading the responses of the Episcopal church service, and otherwise assists in it. [ Eng.] Hook.

And like unlettered clerk still cry "Amen".
Shak.

4. One employed to keep records or accounts; a scribe; an accountant; as, the clerk of a court; a town clerk .

The clerk of the crown . . . withdrew the bill.
Strype.

» In some cases, clerk is synonymous with secretary . A clerk is always an officer subordinate to a higher officer, board, corporation, or person; whereas a secretary may be either a subordinate or the head of an office or department.

5. An assistant in a shop or store. [ U. S.]

Clerk-ale Clerk"-ale` noun A feast for the benefit of the parish clerk. [ Eng.] T. Warton.

Clerkless Clerk"less adjective Unlearned. [ Obsolete] E. Waterhouse.

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