cloven hoof

cloven hoof (plural cloven hooves or cloven hoofs)

1. A divided hoof, as on bovine animals.
   • 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:

     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: […]

2. The mark of the Devil.

• cleft hoof
• cloven foot

• show the cloven hoof

• cloven-hoofed