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cleaver

noun

Simple meaning

A squarish, heavy knife used by butchers for hacking through bones.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kleever

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈklivɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A squarish, heavy knife used by butchers for hacking through bones, etc.

  2. figurative

    The act of eliminating someone or something, especially when done by someone with a history of other eliminations; a dismissal, rejection, or removal.

  3. musicBahamas

    A type of clave, or rhythm stick, a concussive musical instrument used in traditional Bahamian music.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A squarish, heavy knife used by butchers for hacking through bones, etc.

Used this way, cleaver is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • meat cleaver , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

meat cleaverbeaver cleaverjune cleaverward cleaverbill cleaverharry cleavercleaver family

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • cleaveverbBase word

    Separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • meat cleavernounCompound term

    A butcher's knife having a large square blade.

  • spring cleaversnounCompound term

    Annual having the stem beset with curved prickles.

  • yellow cleaversnounCompound term

    Common yellow-flowered perennial bedstraw.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: squarish

meat cleaverRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.