cleavers

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈkliːvəz/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(klē′vərz)


WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
cleav•ers  (klē′vərz),USA pronunciation n., pl. -ers. 
  1. Plant Biologya North American plant, Galium aparine, of the madder family, having short, hooked bristles on the stems and leaves and bearing very small white flowers.
  2. Plant Biologyany of certain related species.
Also, clivers. Also called catchweed, goose grass. 
  • Middle English clivre, Old English clife burdock (-re probably by association with Middle English clivres (plural) claws, or with the agent noun, nominal from cleven to cleave1, whence the modern spelling, spelled) bef. 1000

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
cleavers / ˈkliːvəz/
  1. (functioning as singular) a Eurasian rubiaceous plant, Galium aparine, having small white flowers and prickly stems and fruits
    Also called: goosegrass, hairif
Etymology: Old English clīfe; related to clīfan to cleave2
'cleavers' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Acheulean - Torralba - catchweed - clever - clivers - goose grass - goosegrass - hairif

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