splinter
Americannoun
-
a small, thin, sharp piece of wood, bone, or the like, split or broken off from the main body.
- Synonyms:
- sliver
verb (used with object)
-
to split or break into splinters.
-
to break off (something) in splinters.
-
to split or break (a larger group) into separate factions or independent groups.
-
Obsolete. to secure or support by a splint or splints, as a broken limb.
noun
-
a very small sharp piece of wood, glass, metal, etc, characteristically long and thin, broken off from a whole
-
a metal fragment, from the container of a shell, bomb, etc, thrown out during an explosion
verb
-
to reduce or be reduced to sharp fragments; shatter
-
to break or be broken off in small sharp fragments
Other Word Forms
- splinterless adjective
- splintery adjective
- unsplintered adjective
Etymology
Origin of splinter
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle Dutch or Middle Low German; splint
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That has caused the AI trade to splinter into two camps.
From MarketWatch
But Boko Haram has since splintered and been largely confined to the Muslim-dominated villages of the far northeast, where few Christians remain.
Child laborers and other farmworkers in California are being exposed to toxic pesticides, in part because of splintered enforcement of safety regulations.
From Los Angeles Times
Price’s thesis is simple, but unsettling: modern digital life — especially social media — is turbocharging our anxieties and splintering our attention spans, making what she calls “True Fun” feel increasingly elusive.
From Salon
The splintered nature of men's professional golf cannot continue, even when someone as transcendently charismatic as McIlroy is reigning supreme.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
