cleave1

verb (past clove /klōv/ or cleft /kleft/ or cleaved /klēvd;/ past participle cloven /ˈklōvən/ or cleft or cleaved)

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