as in fissure
an irregular usually narrow break in a surface created by pressure
my fishing line managed to get wedged in a cleft in the rocks
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Recent Examples of cleft
The group of four were scaling the Early Winters Spires, jagged peaks split by a cleft that is popular with climbers in the North Cascade Range, about 160 miles northeast of Seattle.
—
CBS News, 14 May 2025
But today, the most important political cleft is not the fading distinction between right and left, but the rising conflict between liberal and illiberal, democratic and autocratic.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2025
Valproic acid causes birth defects that can be detected in utero such as oral clefts or spina bifida.
—Almut Winterstein, The Conversation, 30 Jan. 2025
Now that she’s become well known not only for her art and fashion, but for being a cleft advocate, speaking around the country about her experience with a cleft lip and palate, Glasses has been traveling a lot for personal appearances, which leaves precious little time for weaving.
—Booth Moore, WWD, 29 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cleft
CBS News, 14 May 2025
But today, the most important political cleft is not the fading distinction between right and left, but the rising conflict between liberal and illiberal, democratic and autocratic.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2025
Valproic acid causes birth defects that can be detected in utero such as oral clefts or spina bifida.
—Almut Winterstein, The Conversation, 30 Jan. 2025
Now that she’s become well known not only for her art and fashion, but for being a cleft advocate, speaking around the country about her experience with a cleft lip and palate, Glasses has been traveling a lot for personal appearances, which leaves precious little time for weaving.
—Booth Moore, WWD, 29 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cleft
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cleft
Noun
-
This magma chamber beneath the lake charges the maar with millions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), which seeps up through fissures in the lake floor.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Crews discovered fissures in the bedrock that required repair and struggled to find grips strong enough to hold cars on the steep grade.—
Michael Wells,
Kansas City Star,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
No trail, just rock after rock, a phantom rattlesnake curled in every crevice.—
Rowan Jacobsen,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Most vacuums are fit for the job with an attachment suited for getting into small crevices.—
Krystal Nurse,
USA Today,
22 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cleft.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cleft. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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