Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A heavy, broad-bladed knife or hatchet used especially by butchers.
  • noun Archaeology A bifacial core tool flaked to produce a straight sharp edge at one end.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun That which cleaves or sticks.
  • noun See cleavers, 1.
  • noun One who or that which cleaves or splits. Specifically
  • noun A heavy knife or long-bladed hatchet used by butchers for cutting carcasses into joints or pieces.
  • noun A cutting-tool with a sharp edge, used in place of a wedge for splitting timber.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A squarish, heavy knife used by butchers for hacking through bones etc

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a butcher's knife having a large square blade

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cleaver.

Examples

  • The leading nigger had armed himself with a cleaver from the galley, and he grimaced like an ape as he prepared to slice me down.

    THE INEVITABLE WHITE MAN 2010

  • The leading nigger had armed himself with a cleaver from the galley, and he grimaced like an ape as he prepared to slice me down.

    The Inevitable White Man 1911

  • A chef’s knife or cleaver is as sharp as a rapier, but it is not an instrument meant for killing.

    Tigers & Strawberries » A Show of Hands 2005

  • Hello Kitt- the cleaver is a new tool to me, I'm going to have a go at dividing a chicken into the usual bits soon, and see how that goes.

    Fruit with a Knife: A Home Cook Cuts Up Lindy 2008

  • So there is something there that could be exploited by the cleaver, which is definitely better than being exploited themselves.

    The News is NowPublic.com - NowPublic.com: The News is Now Public 2008

  • That same side of the house looks like something was chopped off with a meat cleaver which is essentially what happened and finished with a flat wall with some windows in it that don’t match the windows in the rest of the house.

    DesignerBlog Will 2007

  • That same side of the house looks like something was chopped off with a meat cleaver which is essentially what happened and finished with a flat wall with some windows in it that don’t match the windows in the rest of the house.

    Archive 2007-06-01 Will 2007

  • Democrats have accused Republicans of taking a "meat cleaver" to the government, seeking "draconian" cuts that could damage vital services, eliminate hundreds of thousands of federal jobs and destabilize the economic recovery.

    Republicans blast Obama budget but signal willingness to work with Democrats Lori Montgomery 2011

  • Democrats have accused Republicans of taking a "meat cleaver" to the government, seeking "draconian" cuts that could damage vital services, eliminate hundreds of thousands of federal jobs and destabilize the economic recovery.

    Republicans blast Obama budget but signal willingness to work with Democrats Lori Montgomery 2011

  • ` There goes my chance of promotion, 'Garthwaite laughed, as a woman bore down on the wounded man, brandishing a butcher's cleaver.

    Chapter 23: The People of the Abyss 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.