¹cleave

stick, adhere, cohere, cling, cleave mean to become closely attached. stick implies attachment by affixing or by being glued together <couldn't get the label to stick>. adhere is often interchangeable with stick but sometimes implies a growing together <antibodies adhering to a virus>. cohere suggests a sticking together of parts so that they form a unified mass <eggs will make the mixture cohere>. cling implies attachment by hanging on with arms or tendrils <clinging to a capsized boat>. cleave stresses strength of attachment <the wet shirt cleaved to his back>.

tear, rip, rend, split, cleave, rive mean to separate forcibly. tear implies pulling apart by force and leaving jagged edges <tear up the letter>. rip implies a pulling apart in one rapid uninterrupted motion often along a line or joint <ripped the shirt on a nail>. rend implies very violent or ruthless severing or sundering <an angry mob rent the prisoner's clothes>. split implies a cutting or breaking apart in a continuous, straight, and usually lengthwise direction or in the direction of grain or layers <split logs for firewood>. cleave implies very forceful splitting or cutting with a blow <a bolt of lightning cleaved the giant oak>. rive occurs most often in figurative use <a political party riven by conflict>.

The two verbs cleave look and sound alike, but have very different meanings. One means “to split apart,” and the other means “to cling to.”