cleft
/klɛft/
noun
- A narrow opening or crack in a rock, surface, or other solid object.
- A small fern grew out of a cleft in the stone wall.
- The climber wedged his foot into a cleft in the cliff.
- Water trickled through a cleft in the boulder.
- A split or division, especially in the chin or palate.
- The baby was born with a cleft palate and had surgery to repair it.
- A cleft in the lip can be corrected with modern medical techniques.
- He had a distinctive cleft in his chin.
adjective
- Split or divided, especially into two parts.
- The rock formation was cleft by centuries of erosion.
- The leaf had a cleft shape, with a deep notch in the middle.
- The actor's cleft chin is one of his most recognizable features.