Definitions for: Cleavage


[n] the act of cleaving or splitting
[n] the line formed by a groove between two parts (especially the separation between a woman's breasts)
[n] (embryology) the repeated division of a fertilised ovum
[n] the breaking of a chemical bond in a molecule resulting in smaller molecules
[n] the state of being split or cleft



Webster (1913) Definition: Cleav"age, n.
1. The act of cleaving or splitting.

2. (Crystallog.) The quality possessed by many crystallized
substances of splitting readily in one or more definite
directions, in which the cohesive attraction is a minimum,
affording more or less smooth surfaces; the direction of
the dividing plane; a fragment obtained by cleaving, as of
a diamond. See Parting.

3. (Geol.) Division into lamin[ae], like slate, with the
lamination not necessarily parallel to the plane of
deposition; -- usually produced by pressure.

Basal cleavage, cleavage parallel to the base of a crystal,
or to the plane of the lateral axes.

Cell cleavage (Biol.), multiplication of cells by fission.
See Segmentation.

Cubic cleavage, cleavage parallel to the faces of a cube.


Diagonal cleavage, cleavage parallel to ta diagonal plane.


Egg clavage. (Biol.) See Segmentation.

Lateral cleavage, cleavage parallel to the lateral planes.


Octahedral, Dodecahedral, or Rhombohedral, {cleavage,
cleavage parallel to the faces of an octahedron,
dodecahedron, or rhombohedron.

Prismatic cleavage, cleavage parallel to a vertical prism.

Synonyms: segmentation

See Also: area, cell division, cellular division, chemical action, chemical change, chemical process, division, gestation, pregnancy, region, state

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