cleavage vs kerf

cleavage

noun
  • The act of cleaving or the state of being cleft. 

  • The repeated division of a cell into daughter cells after mitosis. 

  • The hollow or separation between a woman's breasts, especially as revealed by a low neckline. 

  • The tendency of a crystal to split along specific planes. 

  • Any similar separation between two body parts, such as the buttocks or toes. 

  • The splitting of a large molecule into smaller ones. 

  • The division of voters into voting blocs. 

kerf

noun
  • The groove or slit created by cutting or sawing something; an incision. 

  • The portion or quantity (e.g. of wood, hay, turf, wool, etc.) removed or cut off in a given stroke. 

  • The distance between diverging saw teeth. 

  • The flattened, cut-off end of a branch or tree; a stump or sawn-off cross-section. 

verb
  • To cut a piece of wood or other material with several kerfs to allow it to be bent. 

How often have the words cleavage and kerf occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )