cleaver

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a heavy knife with a broad, usually rectangular blade, used especially for chopping meat and bones

   The butcher brought the cleaver down cleanly through the joint.

Appears in

From Middle English clevere, 'one who or something that cleaves,' formed from cleave + the agent or instrument suffix -er. The noun became specialized for the broad, heavy cutting tool, which also supports figurative comparisons to anything that divides or penetrates forcefully.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary