splinter
a small, thin, sharp piece of wood, bone, or the like, split or broken off from the main body.
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.
to be split or broken into splinters.
to break off in splinters.
Origin of splinter
1Other words for splinter
Other words from splinter
- splin·ter·less, adjective
- splin·ter·y, adjective
- un·splin·tered, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use splinter in a sentence
Upstairs, in the living room, splintered logs of hemlock cackled and spat from inside the wood stove.
Dungeons and Genital Clamps: Inside a Legendary BDSM Chateau | Ian Frisch | December 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey splintered themselves into two categories: “Hardcore” and “Casual.”
Death of ‘Gamer’ Identity: How Hardcore Trolls Pwned Themselves | Alec Kubas-Meyer | September 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs the term splintered, people clung to it and its variations.
Death of ‘Gamer’ Identity: How Hardcore Trolls Pwned Themselves | Alec Kubas-Meyer | September 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe didn't lose anyone in "The Sudden Departure," but his family has splintered anyway.
‘The Leftovers’ Review: A Fever Dream You Can’t Wake Up From | Andrew Romano | June 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTShields are again splintered into useless bits, and sparks fly from all the metallic collisions.
The ‘GOT’ Red Viper and Mountain Duel, and a History of Medieval Trial by Combat | Steven Isaac | June 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Bang went the fragile bulb, as it splintered into a thousand atoms, and the mercury shot in sparkling globules over the table.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsHe glanced quickly at me out of a square, serious face, then plunged back through the splintered door toward the breakup inside.
Fee of the Frontier | Horace Brown FyfeThere was a sharp snap as the boom, splintered in two in the middle, emerged from the waves, a useless thing.
The Rival Campers | Ruel Perley SmithAway it bounded, with the ease and certainty of a well-aimed arrow, over a ridge of splintered rocks.
Menotah | Ernest G. Henham"See," he said, holding the tiny flame above a splintered scar on the boards.
Masterpieces of Mystery, Vol. 1 (of 4) | Various
British Dictionary definitions for splinter
/ (ˈsplɪntə) /
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
to reduce or be reduced to sharp fragments; shatter
to break or be broken off in small sharp fragments
Origin of splinter
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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