cleave1

verb (past clove /kləʊv/ or cleft /klɛft/ or cleaved; past participle cloven /ˈkləʊv(ə)n/ or cleft or cleaved)

• split or sever (something), especially along a natural line or grain:the large chopper his father used to cleave wood for the fire
• split (a molecule) by breaking a particular chemical bond.
• [no object] Biology (of a cell) divide: the egg cleaves to form a mulberry-shaped cluster of cells
• make a way through (something) forcefully, as if by splitting it apart:they watched a coot cleave the smooth water [no object]:an unstoppable warrior clove through their ranks