An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/klauben

by Friedrich Kluge

klauben, verb, ‘to pick or dig out, cull, from Middle High German klûben, Old High German chlûbôn, ‘to pluck to pieces, cleave’; Goth *klûbôn is wanting. The Teutonic root klū̆b anciently formed another verb; see klieben, under which further references are given.