cleaver
n. countablen. a heavy knife with a wide, rectangular blade. People use it to cut through large pieces of meat or bone.
n. a heavy, broad-bladed knife used by butchers for hacking through bones and joints. Refers to a tool characterised by high mass and a thick spine to prevent chipping under impact.
The chef uses a sharp cleaver to chop the ribs.
A heavy cleaver is essential in traditional butchery for splitting carcasses and preparing large cuts of meat for sale.
The butcher expertly swung the heavy cleaver, demonstrating the precision required to divide the bone without creating excessive shards or damaging the surrounding muscle tissue.
From Middle English clevere, equivalent to cleave + -er.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Often referred to as a 'meat cleaver' to distinguish it from smaller vegetable choppers.
Last updated May 14, 2026