CLEAVING Synonyms: 14 Similar and Opposite Words

cleaving

verb

present participle of cleave

as in adhering

to hold to something firmly as if by adhesion you should resolutely cleave to the facts in your report

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of cleaving It can be made cleanly by cleaving the hydrogen out of water using clean electricity. — Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2026 Imagine a termite carving a path like a jumbled ball of string through a tree trunk, instead of an axe cleaving a single vector. — New Atlas, 12 Aug. 2026 Daemon struggles to his feet, dazed, and begins cleaving his way through the smouldering city. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026 By the time Lincoln was elected president in 1860, slavery was already cleaving the country. — Chris Kenning, USA Today, 2 July 2026 Something like cleaving a payroll system in three has to be done flawlessly, for example, so staff still get paid on time. — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 12 June 2026 Inequality is cleaving the haves and the have-nots. — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 24 May 2026 The shakeup in Kraft Heinz’s senior ranks is an initial step in CEO Steve Cahillane’s ambitious plan to turn around the company, instead of cleaving its top-performing condiments and boxed meals apart from its lower-growth grocery staples. — Kristina Peterson, Bloomberg, 18 Feb. 2026 And of course, from a more skeptical perspective, the whole project could be described as cleaving close to the wisdom of the strippers in Gypsy. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cleaving

Verb

Unlike in Cutud, participants are mostly female faith healers adhering not to vows but to mystic trances and possession.

— H.M.A. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 10 July 2026
Decorating rules can be helpful guidelines, but adhering too strictly to conventional wisdom can seriously cramp your style.

— Kristin Hohenadel, The Spruce, 23 June 2026

Definition of adhering

Verb

At the landing zone, with bullets whipping and cracking around them, Capers—barely clinging to consciousness—refused to board the helicopter until every last man, and his dog’s body, was aboard.

— Ethan Rocke, Charlotte Observer, 20 Aug. 2026
Kumar said people were clinging to trees and rescuers had to break through a home's roof to pull out two children and their parents.

— ABC News, ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of clinging

Verb

Small enough to be more cute than dangerous—but not worth sticking a finger in the water to test the theory.

— Heather Greenwood Davis, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Aug. 2026
Florida Attorney General James Ulthmeier once again is grandstanding and sticking his nose into a national issue.

— Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 9 Aug. 2026