a Eurasian rubiaceous plant, Galium aparine, having small white flowers and prickly stems and fruits
Also called: goosegrass, hairif, sticky willie
Word origin
Old English clīfe; related to clīfan to cleave2
cleavers in American English
(ˈklivərz)
nounWord forms: pluralˈcleavers
any of various plants (genus Galium) of the madder family, esp. a weedy species (G. aparine), with stalkless leaves arranged in whorls, clusters of small, white or yellow flowers, and square stems