splinter

American  

[splin-ter] / ˈsplɪn tər /

noun

1. a small, thin, sharp piece of wood, bone, or the like, split or broken off from the main body.

   Synonyms:

   sliver

2. splinter group.

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verb (used with object)

1. to split or break into splinters.

2. to break off (something) in splinters.

3. to split or break (a larger group) into separate factions or independent groups.

4. Obsolete. to secure or support by a splint or splints, as a broken limb.

verb (used without object)

1. to be split or broken into splinters.

2. to break off in splinters.

   Synonyms:

   split, part, separate

splinter British  

/ ˈsplɪntə /

noun

1. a very small sharp piece of wood, glass, metal, etc, characteristically long and thin, broken off from a whole

2. a metal fragment, from the container of a shell, bomb, etc, thrown out during an explosion

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verb

1. to reduce or be reduced to sharp fragments; shatter

2. 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

Explanation

A splinter is a narrow, pointed sliver that breaks off something larger. If you walk barefoot on a wooden floor, dock, or boardwalk, you might get a splinter of wood in your foot. Ouch! We often use the word splinter to refer to tiny shards of wood that lodge under the skin, but a sliver of any hard material — stone, glass, bone, wood, metal — can be called a splinter. When something splinters, it breaks into individual bits. You can also use the word figuratively to describe something that separates in a violent or forceful way, like when a mainstream political party splinters into more or less extreme groups.

Example Sentences

But regional cooperation doesn’t need to splinter the world entirely.

From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026

She trained in classical arts—voice and dance—and common notions of beauty are present in her music, yet she seems equally determined to splinter her tracks into pieces via technology.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 2, 2026

Iswap is a splinter group of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has been waging an insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria for more than a decade.

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2025

That has caused the AI trade to splinter into two camps.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 28, 2025

The next morning, at school, everything seemed back to normal, but she knew something had changed, and she held this knowledge inside her like a splinter, something she was careful not to touch.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

Related Words

• disintegrate
• fracture
• rive
• shatter
• smash
• split