Cleavage may refer to:

Science

* Cleavage (crystal), in mineralogy and materials science, a process of splitting a crystal *

Cleavage (geology) Cleavage, in structural geology and petrology, describes a type of planar rock feature that develops as a result of deformation and metamorphism. The degree of deformation and metamorphism along with rock type determines the kind of cleavage fe ...

, the foliation perpendicular to stress as a result of ductile deformation * Cleavage (embryo), in embryology, the division of cells in the early embryo * Cleavage (fiber), in optical fibers * Bond cleavage in chemistry and biochemistry, the splitting of chemical bonds *

Cleavage factor __NOTOC__ Cleavage factors are two closely associated protein complexes involved in the cleavage of the 3' untranslated region of a newly synthesized pre-messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule in the process of gene transcription. The cleavage is the first ...

* In cell biology, the

cleavage furrow In cell biology, the cleavage furrow is the indentation of the cell's surface that begins the progression of cleavage, by which animal and some algal cells undergo cytokinesis, the final splitting of the membrane, in the process of cell division. ...

is the indentation that begins the process of cleavage, by which animal cells undergo cytokinesis * Proteolysis, also called peptide cleavage, the breaking down of proteins

Anatomy

Cleavage (breasts) Cleavage is the narrow depression or hollow between the breasts of a woman. The superior portion of cleavage may be accentuated by clothing such as a low-cut neckline that exposes the division, and often the term is used to describe the low neck ...

, the partial exposure of the gap between a woman's breasts * Buttock cleavage, the minor exposure of the buttocks and the gluteal cleft between them * Toe cleavage, the partial exposure of toes in shoes * Teeth cleavage or tooth cleavage, slang for

diastema A diastema (plural diastemata, from Greek διάστημα, space) is a space or gap between two teeth. Many species of mammals have diastemata as a normal feature, most commonly between the incisors and molars. More colloquially, the condition ...

, the gap between a person's two front teeth

Other uses

Cleavage (politics) In political science and sociology, a cleavage is a historically determined social or cultural line which divides citizens within a society into groups with differing political interests, resulting in political conflict among these groups. Social ...

, the divisions of society that cause people to vote differently

Science

Anatomy

Other uses

See also