tocleave
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English tocleven, from Old English tōclēofan (“to split apart, cleave asunder”), from Proto-Germanic *tōkliubaną (“to split apart”), equivalent to to- + cleave (“to split”). Cognate with Old High German zechluiban (“to split apart, cleave asunder”).
Verb edit
tocleave (third-person singular simple present tocleaves, present participle tocleaving, simple past toclove or tocleft or tocleaved, past participle tocloven or tocleft or tocleaved)
- (transitive, dialectal, obsolete) To divide; split open; cleave asunder.
- (intransitive, dialectal, obsolete) To split apart; break.
References edit
- “tocleave”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.