splice
Americanverb (used with object)
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splices,
present (3rd person singular)
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spliced,
past participle, past
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splicing
present participle
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to join together or unite (two ropes or parts of a rope) by the interweaving of strands.
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to unite (timbers, spars, or the like) by overlapping and binding their ends.
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to unite (film, magnetic tape, or the like) by butting and cementing.
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to join or unite.
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Genetics. to join (segments of DNA or RNA) together.
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Informal. to unite in marriage.
They'll be spliced in June.
noun
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splices
plural
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a joining of two ropes or parts of a rope by splicing.
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the union or junction made by splicing.
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a joining or junction of two pieces of timber, spar, etc., by overlapping and fastening the ends.
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a joining of film, electromagnetic tape, or the like.
idioms
verb
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to join (two ropes) by intertwining the strands
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to join up the trimmed ends of (two pieces of wire, film, magnetic tape, etc) with solder or an adhesive material
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to join (timbers) by overlapping and binding or bolting the ends together
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informal (passive) to enter into marriage
the couple got spliced last Saturday
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nautical history to issue and partake of an extra allocation of alcoholic spirits
noun
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a join made by splicing
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the place where such a join occurs
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the wedge-shaped end of a cricket-bat handle or similar instrument that fits into the blade
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To join together genes or gene fragments or insert them into a cell or other structure, such as a virus, by means of enzymes. In genetic engineering, scientists splice together genetic material to produce new genes or to alter a genetic structure. In messenger RNA, the introns are removed, and exons are spliced together to yield the final messenger RNA that is translated.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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splicernoun
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respliceverb (used with object)
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underspliceverb (used with object)
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spliceableadjective
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unsplicedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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splicesimple
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splicessimple
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have splicedperfect
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has splicedperfect
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am splicingprogressive
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are splicingprogressive
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is splicingprogressive
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have been splicingperfect progressive
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has been splicingperfect progressive
Past
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splicedsimple
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had splicedperfect
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was splicingprogressive
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were splicingprogressive
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had been splicingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of splice
1515–25; < earlier Dutch splissen (now splitsen )
Explanation
As noun and verb, splice refers to the overlapping or interweaving of two ends of something to create the strongest possible attachment. The earliest records of the word splice are from the early 16th century, when it was borrowed from the Middle Dutch verb splissen, used by sailors for joining ropes end to end by interweaving their strands. In 1912, the infant motion-picture industry took over the word splice to refer to the cutting and joining of film in the editing process. In 1975, scientists found they could alter genes by cutting and adding chunks of DNA, creating the science of gene splicing.
Vocabulary lists containing splice
All the Pretty Horses
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The Martian
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Stories of Ourselves
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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.
See Examples For:
Four years ago, he left cell tower work to manage fiber crews, then saw how much this particular specialty makes—sometimes upward of $30 per splice for projects like this—and moved into that role.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
"There is a splice site in Homer1 that can be pharmacologically targeted, which may be an ideal way to help dial the knob on brain signal-to-noise levels," Rajasethupathy says.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 2, 2026
Rather than stingily splice the historical sources, as the Carralero court did, those judges drew upon the historical principles that justified locational restrictions.
From Slate ● Jan. 3, 2024
The local fishermen too said they were particularly wary of these boats as they are more prone to sinking and often splice their nets.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2023
Dinosaurs and humans in a genetic splice become robots and take over the world.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
Daniel Mason splices together different narrative strands to create a single story connecting its successive inhabitants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
The video for the track splices footage of Cole Palmer's goals for Chelsea with shots of Nemzzz in London.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2024
The active splicing factor splices out the inhibitory exon in the transcription factor, which turns on the genes that produce collagen.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 26, 2024
In one scene, when Jackie is feeling trapped, the editing splices in an insert of a boiling coffee percolator and an old news clip of the Berlin Wall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
Werner rewinds the resistance track and splices the wires and plugs in the radio.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
ESRP2 binds to RNA and helps ensure that it is spliced correctly.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
The video is a compilation of clips of charismatic Christian prophet Kim Clement, spliced together from 2007 appearances in California and Arizona.
From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2026
The product wasn’t profitable, and every user who spliced themselves into a World War II newsreel or Hollywood chase scene drew down a finite resource.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
The Instagram post promoting the handbag, which has a label to say it was made using AI, shows a "surreal" collage of models spliced between Valentino logos and its DeVain bag.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
Waiting for them to cross a yawning crevasse bridged by two rickety ladders spliced end to end, I was shocked to see them go across together, almost in lockstep—a needlessly dangerous act.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Before many RNA molecules can be used, pieces of them must be cut and joined together in a process known as RNA splicing.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
But the method required splicing DNA of different organisms and using bacteria to propagate samples.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025
Trying out mixes, considering hundreds of audio samples, scooping out tonal frequencies, splicing together temporary music cues, listening and listening again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025
He said the error did not amount to "innocent splicing".
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2025
Reich was fascinated by the creative possibilities of splicing up tape recordings and putting them back together again in collage or repetitive sequence, inspiring, among others, The Beatles to do likewise.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
