2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Cleavage  \Cleav"age\,  n. 
  1.  The  act  of  cleaving  or  splitting. 
 
  2.  (Crystallog.)  The  quality  possessed  by  many  crystallized 
  substances  of  splitting  readily  in  one  or  more  definite 
  directions,  in  which  the  cohesive  attraction  is  a  minimum, 
  affording  more  or  less  smooth  surfaces;  the  direction  of 
  the  dividing  plane;  a  fragment  obtained  by  cleaving,  as  of 
  a  diamond.  See  {Parting}. 
 
  3.  (Geol.)  Division  into  lamin[ae],  like  slate,  with  the 
  lamination  not  necessarily  parallel  to  the  plane  of 
  deposition;  --  usually  produced  by  pressure. 
 
  {Basal  cleavage},  cleavage  parallel  to  the  base  of  a  crystal, 
  or  to  the  plane  of  the  lateral  axes. 
 
  {Cell  cleavage}  (Biol.),  multiplication  of  cells  by  fission. 
  See  {Segmentation}. 
 
  {Cubic  cleavage},  cleavage  parallel  to  the  faces  of  a  cube. 
 
 
  {Diagonal  cleavage},  cleavage  parallel  to  ta  diagonal  plane. 
 
 
  {Egg  clavage}.  (Biol.)  See  {Segmentation}. 
 
  {Lateral  cleavage},  cleavage  parallel  to  the  lateral  planes. 
 
 
  {Octahedral,  Dodecahedral,  or  Rhombohedral,  {cleavage}, 
  cleavage  parallel  to  the  faces  of  an  octahedron, 
  dodecahedron,  or  rhombohedron. 
 
  {Prismatic  cleavage},  cleavage  parallel  to  a  vertical  prism. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  cleavage 
  n  1:  the  breaking  of  a  chemical  bond  in  a  molecule  resulting  in 
  smaller  molecules 
  2:  (embryology)  the  repeated  division  of  a  fertilised  ovum 
  [syn:  {segmentation}] 
  3:  the  line  formed  by  a  groove  between  two  parts  (especially 
  the  separation  between  a  woman's  breasts) 

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