cloverleaf

English

Alternative forms

clover-leaf

Etymology

clover +‎ leaf

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkləʊvəliːf/
(US) enPR: klōʹvər-lēf, IPA^(key): /ˈkloʊvɚliːf/
Audio (US) (file)

Adjective

cloverleaf (not comparable)

In the form of the leaf of a clover plant; cloverleafed.

Derived terms

cloverleaf interchange

Translations

in the form of cloverleaf

Finnish: apila- (fi)

Noun

cloverleaf (plural cloverleafs or cloverleaves) (see individual senses for plurals)

(with plural cloverleaves) The leaf of a clover plant
(US) (with plural cloverleafs or cloverleaves) A cloverleaf interchange.
- 1975, C.W. McCall and Chip Davis (lyrics), “Convoy”, in Black Bear Road, performed by C. W. McCall:
  By the time we got into Tulsa Town
  We had eighty-five trucks in all
  But there's a roadblock up on the cloverleaf
  And them bears was wall-to-wall.

Derived terms

cloverleaf antenna
cloverleaf interchange
cloverleaf model
clover-leaf roll
clover-leaf sight
clover-leaf skull, cloverleaf skull
cloverleaf stack
clover leaf weevil

Translations

leaf of a clover plant

Finnish: apilanlehti
German: Kleeblatt (de) n
Luxembourgish: Kléiblat n

cloverleaf interchange — see cloverleaf interchange

Verb

cloverleaf (third-person singular simple present cloverleafs, present participle cloverleafing, simple past and past participle cloverleafed)

(intransitive) To turn by following a cloverleaf, or as if by following one.
- 2003, David Maraniss, They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967:
  Hay told a military historian that Allen precipitated “the debacle” by “allowing his lead company to pursue the VC down the trail” instead of forming a perimeter and cloverleafing at the first sign of the enemy.