Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Cleave

Cleave (klēv) , intransitive verb

[Old English cleovien, clivien, cliven, Anglo-Saxon cleofian, clifian; akin to Old Saxon klibōn, German kleben, LG. kliven, Dutch kleven, Danish klabe, Swedish klibba, and also to German kleiben to cleve, paste, Icelandic klīfa to climb. Compare Climb.]

1.
To adhere closely; to stick; to hold fast; to cling. [Obsolete]
My bones cleave to my skin. — Bible (KJV) - Psalm cii. 5
The diseases of Egypt... shall cleave unto thee. — Deut. xxviii. 60
Sophistry cleaves close to and protects Sin's rotten trunk, concealing its defects. — Cowper
2.
To unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to adhere with strong attachment.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. — Gen. ii. 24
Cleave unto the Lord your God. — Josh. xxiii. 8
3.
To fit; to be adapted; to assimilate. [Poetic.]
New honors come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mold But with the aid of use. — Shakespeare

Cleave (klēv) , transitive verb

[Old English cleoven, cleven, Anglo-Saxon cleófan; akin to Old Saxon klioban, Dutch klooven, German klieben, Icelandic kljūfa, Swedish klyfva, Danish klove and prob. to Greek gly`fein to carve, Latin glubere to peel. Compare Cleft.]

1.
To part or divide by force; to split or rive; to cut. [Obsolete; Obsolescent]
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain. — Shakespeare
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 , 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