Cleavage
WordNet

noun


(1)   The act of cleaving or splitting
(2)   The line formed by a groove between two parts (especially the separation between a woman's breasts)
(3)   (embryology) the repeated division of a fertilised ovum
(4)   The breaking of a chemical bond in a molecule resulting in smaller molecules
(5)   The state of being split or cleft
"There was a cleavage between the liberal and conservative members"
WiktionaryText

Noun


  1. The hollow or separation between a woman's breasts, especially as revealed by a low neckline.
  2. The act of cleaving or the state of being cleft.
  3. The tendency of a crystal to split along specific planes.
  4. The splitting of a large molecule into smaller ones.
  5. The repeated division of a cell into daughter cells after mitosis.

Usage notes


In Winston's Dictionary (Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1931), only definitions #2 and #3 above were given. Today, however, with the increasingly open discussion of sexually-related subjects, definition #1 would undoubtedly be the best known to most English speakers.
 
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