cloven hoof

plural cloven hooves · plural cloven hoofs

1. A divided hoof, as on bovine animals.

   1 more example

   6. Chileſe Horſe.—1. Equus biſulcus. 6. / Has cloven hoofs. Molin. hiſt. nat. Chil. 284. / Inhabits South America.—This obſcure quadruped, which is only mentioned by Molina, frequents the precipitous and rocky mountains of the Andes or Cordellieras; in ſize, number and arrangement of teeth, and in general appearance, it reſembles the Horſe, for which reaſon it is placed by Dr Gmelin in this genus, though its cloven hoofs are ſimilar to thoſe of the animals belonging to the former order: […]

   1792, Robert Kerr, The Animal Kingdom, or Zoological System, of the Celebrated Sir Charles Linnæus. Class I. Mammalia: […], Edinburgh: […] A[ndrew] Strahan, and T[homas] Cadell, London; and W[illiam] Creech, Edinburgh, page 346

   Synonyms: cleft hoof, cloven foot

2. The mark of the Devil.

   Children of the cloven hooves / Bathe the cross in your father's blood

   2020, “Seeing God”, performed by The Acacia Strain and Aaron Heard