cleaving

From WikiWord, the free dictionary

English

Definitions

To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.“The wings cleaved the foggy air.”
To break a single crystal (such as a gemstone or semiconductor wafer) along one of its more symmetrical crystallographic planes (often by impact), forming facets on the resulting pieces.
To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting.“The truck cleaved a path through the ice.”
To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.