<B>clear-eyed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having clear eyes. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) having clear, undistorted perception. <BR> <I>Ex. These stories are told with the clear-eyed detachment of a mature adult and with an unobtrusive but telling compassion (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="clearheaded">
<B>clear-headed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having or showing a clear understanding. adv. <B>clear-headedly.</B> noun <B>clear-headedness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="clearing">
<B>clearing, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an open space of cleared land in a forest or in an area of dense undergrowth. <BR> <I>Ex. A little beyond Grand river we came to a clearing, and looking into it, saw a handsome house about 500 yards distant (John Melish).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Banking.) the exchanging of checks and bills and settling of accounts between different banks, usually through a clearing house. <DD><B> 3. </B>the act of a person or thing that clears; brightening, clarifying, or the like. <BR><I>expr. <B>clearings,</B> </I>(Banking.) the total of the accounts settled in the process of clearing. <BR> <I>Ex. A rise in clearings since last month has been reported by the Federal Reserve System.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="clearingbank">
<B>clearing bank,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a group of large British banks that are members of the London Clearing House. <BR> <I>Ex. All the clearing banks except Barclays now issue cheque guarantee cards (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="clearinghouse">
<B>clearing house,</B> or <B>clearinghouse, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a place where banks exchange checks and bills and settle their accounts. Only the balances are paid in cash. <DD><B> 2. </B>any institution of a similar nature in which claims or differences are settled. </DL>
<A NAME="clearingnut">
<B>clearing nut,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a seed of a tree related to the nux vomica, used in the East Indies for clearing muddy water. A seed is rubbed around the inside of a vessel of water, which is then left to settle, all the impurities soon falling to the bottom. </DL>
<A NAME="clearingring">
<B>clearing ring,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a heavy, jointed, metal ring run down a fishing line to free the line and hook when entangled in an obstacle. </DL>
<A NAME="clearings">
<B>clearings, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>clearing.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="clearly">
<B>clearly, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>without obscurity; distinctly. <BR> <I>Ex. The top of the mountain rose clearly above us (John Tyndall).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) with full and complete understanding. <BR> <I>Ex. There is no choice of words for him who clearly sees the truth (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) with clearness and distinctness of expression or exposition; plainly. <BR> <I>Ex. Once more; speak clearly, if you speak at all (Oliver Wendell Holmes).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) so as to leave no doubt; manifestly; evidently. <BR> <I>Ex. That, by the old constitution, no military authority was lodged in the Parliament, Mr. Hallam has clearly shown (Macaulay).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="clearobscure">
<B>clear obscure,</B> =chiaroscuro.</DL>
<A NAME="clearout">
<B>clearout, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) the act or process of clearing out; cleanup. </DL>
<A NAME="clearsighted">
<B>clear-sighted, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>able to see clearly. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) able to understand or think clearly. (SYN) discerning, perspicacious. adv. <B>clear-sightedly.</B> noun <B>clear-sightedness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="clearstarch">
<B>clearstarch, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to stiffen with clearstarch. <DD><I>noun </I> a starch, for stiffening clothes, that has been boiled until it is clear. </DL>
<A NAME="clearstory">
<B>clearstory, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ries.</B> =clerestory.</DL>
<A NAME="clearway">
<B>clearway, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a highway on which motor vehicles may not stop or park. <DD><B> 2. </B>a path or passageway. </DL>
<A NAME="clearwing">
<B>clearwing, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a moth with wings that are mainly transparent and scaleless. </DL>
<A NAME="cleat">
<B>cleat, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a strip of wood or iron fastened across anything for support or for sure footing. <BR> <I>Ex. The gangway had cleats to keep passengers from slipping.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a small, wedge-shaped block fastened to a spar, yard, or the like, for a support, check, or the like. <DD><B> 3. </B>a piece of wood or iron, usually with two arms, used for securing ropes or lines, especially to a flagpole or a dock. <DD><B> 4. </B>a piece of metal, wood, hard rubber, plastic, or stiff leather attached to the sole or heel of a shoe to prevent slipping. <DD><B> 5. </B>the principal set of the cleavage planes found in mining coal. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to fasten to or with a cleat. <DD><B> 2. </B>to furnish with cleats. <BR> <I>Ex. Cleated step plates may be screwed to the gunwales of small craft to give crewmen secure footing (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cleavability">
<B>cleavability, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> capability of cleavage. </DL>
<A NAME="cleavage">
<B>cleavage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of cleaving or state of being cleft; split; division. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) There is little to look upon with pleasure amidst this cleavage of party ties and rending of old associations (Fortnightly Review).</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>the way in which something tends to split. <DD><B> b. </B>(Mineralogy.) the tendency of some minerals to split along definite directions producing an even surface. <BR> <I>Ex. Slate and mica show a marked cleavage and can easily be separated into layers.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>(Embryology.) any one of the series of divisions by which the single cell of a fertilized egg develops into the many-celled embryo, or the whole series. <DD><B> b. </B>(Biology.) <B>=cell division.</B> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Chemistry.) the splitting of a compound into simpler compounds. <DD><B> 5. </B>the cleft between a woman's breasts, as is displayed in a low-cut garment. </DL>
<A NAME="cleavagenucleus">
<B>cleavage nucleus,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Embryology.) the nucleus which results from the union of the male and female pronuclei, before the division of the egg into two blastomeres. </DL>
<A NAME="cleavagespindle">
<B>cleavage spindle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Embryology.) the karyokinetic spindle of a dividing blastomere, during the early development of the ovum. </DL>
<A NAME="cleave">
<B>cleave</B> (1), verb, <B>cleft</B> or <B>cleaved</B> or <B>clove,</B> <B>cleft</B> or <B>cleaved</B> or <B>cloven,</B> <B>cleaving.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1a. </B>to cut, divide, or split open; hew asunder. <BR> <I>Ex. A blow of the whale's tail cleft our boat in two.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to pass through; pierce; penetrate. <BR> <I>Ex. The airplane swept across the sky, cleaving the clouds.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to make by cutting. <BR> <I>Ex. They cleft a path through the woods.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to split with a smooth, plane fracture, or in layers; fall asunder. <DD><B> 2. </B>to cut one's way; penetrate; pass. adj. <B>cleavable.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="cleave">
<B>cleave</B> (2), intransitive verb, <B>cleaved</B> or (Archaic) <B>clave,</B> <B>cleaved,</B> <B>cleaving.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to hold fast; cling. <BR> <I>Ex. to cleave to an idea. He was so frightened that his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth. For I cleaved to a cause that I felt to be pure and true (Tennyson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cleaver">
<B>cleaver, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a cutting tool with a heavy blade and a short handle. A butcher uses a cleaver to chop through meat or bone. <DD><B> 2. </B>a prehistoric stone tool with a broad cutting edge. <DD><B> 3. </B>a person who cleaves. </DL>
<A NAME="cleavers">
<B>cleavers, </B>noun sing. and pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various climbing plants of the madder family, which adhere by short, hooked bristles to hedges, clothing, or hide. Also, <B>clivers.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="cleek">
<B>cleek, </B>noun, verb, <B>claught</B> or <B>cleeked,</B> <B>cleeking.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a golf club with a narrow or small head and less slope than a midiron, used for long-distance shots. It may be the "number 1 iron" but it is now usually the "number 4 wood." <BR> <I>Ex. It was a day of furious wind by the sea and Mr. Hutchison was stealthily progressing by half cleek shots which kept the ball close to the ground (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Scottish.) a large hook. <DD><I>v.t. </I> (Scottish.) to seize firmly or suddenly; clutch. Also, <B>cleik.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="clef">
<B>clef, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a symbol in music indicating the pitch of the notes on a staff. The three clefs are <I>G</I> (treble), <I>F</I> (bass), and the less commonly used <I>C</I> (soprano, alto, or tenor). The forms of the clefs derive ultimately from the shapes of those letters. The staff line where a clef is located is assigned the same pitch as the tone represented by the clef. The tones of the three clefs are the G above middle C, the F below it, and middle C. </DL>
<A NAME="cleft">
<B>cleft, </B>verb, adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>verb </I> a past tense and a past participle of <B>cleave</B> (1). <BR> <I>Ex. His blow cleft the log in two.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>split or divided to a certain depth; bifurcate. <BR> <I>Ex. a cleft stick.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>split into thin pieces. <DD><B> 3. </B>divided into lobes by notches extending halfway, or somewhat further, from the margin to the midrib or to the base. <BR> <I>Ex. a cleft leaf.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a space or opening made by splitting; crack. <BR> <I>Ex. a deep cleft in the rocks.</I> (SYN) fissure, crevice, chink, split. <DD><B> 2. </B>a hollow part, such as a dimple. <BR> <I>Ex. a cleft on the chin.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a split in the pattern or hoof of a horse. <BR><I>expr. <B>in a cleft stick.</B> </I>See under <B>stick</B> (1). </DL>
<A NAME="cleftgraft">
<B>cleft-graft, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to engraft (a plant) by cleaving the stock and inserting a cutting. </DL>
<A NAME="cleftlip">
<B>cleft lip,</B> =harelip.</DL>
<A NAME="cleftpalate">
<B>cleft palate,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a narrow opening running lengthwise in the roof of the mouth, caused by failure of the two parts of the palate to join before birth. </DL>
<A NAME="cleg">
<B>cleg, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a gadfly. </DL>
