Cleavage1. (n.) The act of cleaving or splitting.
2. (n.) 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. (n.) Division into laminae, like slate, with the lamination not necessarily parallel to the plane of deposition; -- usually produced by pressure.
Thesaurus Entries
abscission, alienation, alpha decay, amputation, atom-chipping, atom-smashing, atomic disintegration, atomic reaction, atomization, beta decay, bombardment, breach, breach of friendship, break, breeding, bullet, butchering, chain reaction, chasm, chopping, cleft, cutting, dichotomy, disaffection, disfavor, disintegration series, disruption, dissociation, disunion, disunity, divergence, dividedness, division, enucleation, estrangement, exchange reaction, excision, falling-out, fission, fission reaction, gamma decay, ionization, laceration, mutilation, neutron reaction, nonreversible reaction, nuclear fission, nucleization, open rupture, photodisintegration, proton gun, proton reaction, recall of ambassadors, rending, resection, reversible reaction, rift, ripping, rupture, schism, scission, section, separation, severance, slashing, slicing, split, splitting, splitting the atom, stimulation, surgery, target, tearing, thermonuclear reaction