cleaver

thumb|upright=1.4|A modern wood-handled cleaver thumb|Chinese chef's knife (top) and old North American cleaver (bottom) thumb|A cleaver in use, being used to cut pork chops from a loin of pork

A cleaver is a large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a rectangular-bladed tomahawk. It is largely used as a kitchen or butcher knife and is mostly intended for splitting up large pieces of soft bones and slashing through thick pieces of meat. The knife's broad side can also be used for crushing in food preparation (such as garlic) and can also be used to scoop up chopped items.