CLEVE,

CLEVER, adjective

1. Fit; suitable; convenient; proper; commodious.

2. Dextrous; adroit; ready; that performs with skill or address.

3. In New England, good-natured, possessing an agreeable mind or disposition. In Great Britain, this word is applied to the body or its movements, in its literal sense; in America, it is applied chiefly to the mind, temper, disposition. In Great Britain, a clever man is a dextrous man, one who performs and act with skill or address. In New-England, a clever man is a man of a pleasing obliging disposition, and amiable manners, but often implying a moderate share of talents. Fitness, suitableness, gives both senses analogically; the former applied to the body; the latter, to the mind, or its qualities. It is a colloquial word, but sometimes found in respectable writings.

In some of the United States, it is said this word is applied to the intellect, denoting ingenious, knowing, discerning.