interstice

American  

[in-tur-stis] / ɪnˈtɜr stɪs /

noun

• interstices
  plural

1. an intervening space.

2. a small or narrow space or interval between things or parts, especially when one of a series of alternating uniform spaces and parts.

   the interstices between the slats of a fence.

3. Roman Catholic Church. the interval of time that must elapse, as required by canon law, before promotion to a higher degree of orders.

4. an interval of time.

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interstice British  

/ ɪnˈtɜːstɪs /

noun

1. a minute opening or crevice between things

2. physics the space between adjacent atoms in a crystal lattice

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interstice Scientific  

/ ĭn-tûr′stĭs /

1. An opening or space, especially a small or narrow one between mineral grains in a rock or within sediments or soil.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intersticed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• interstices
  plural

Etymology

Origin of interstice

1595–1605; < Latin interstitium, equivalent to interstit-, variant stem of intersistere to stand or put between + -ium -ium

Explanation

Use the noun interstice to mean a tiny gap, like the interstice between your curtains which lets in a thin slice of morning sunlight. An interstice in the clouds might reveal blue sky, and an interstice in your kitchen wall could account for the mouse problem you've had lately. Though interstice is useful for talking about these narrow spaces or openings between things, it's much more commonly used in its plural form. For example, you might complain that in the interstices of your busy day you have to catch up on returning phone calls. The Latin root is interstitium, which literally means "space between."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

interstice interstices

Dark in truck except for crack of light and fresh air coming through small interstice between back doors.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2013

Alejandra therefore sits at the exact interstice of prohibition and possibility.

From Slate ● Feb. 1, 2013

Little boys, holding three or four onions in their hands, creep between the people, wriggling their way through every interstice, and asking for custom in whining tones, as if seeking charity.

From A History of the Cries of London Ancient and Modern by Charles Hindley

In the interstice is an oval or egg-shaped mound.'

From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 422 Volume 17, New Series, January 31, 1852 by Robert Chambers

I turn now to the literary work which filled every available interstice of time.

From The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, Bart., K.C.S.I. A Judge of the High Court of Justice by Sir Leslie Stephen

If Joan Didion had an overarching preoccupation as a journalist and novelist, it was to find interstices where truth and myth blend into each other.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2025

Price herself was well aware of racial interstices.

From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2023

Today cornfields stretch to the horizon, but crowded into their interstices are fragments of the prairie that once covered this part of the state.

From Scientific American ● Feb. 13, 2023

In a crowd, the body tries to be smaller, contracting in odd ways to find clear passage, shaping itself to the interstices of precious empty space.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 4, 2021

Listen to this: “The dynamic interstices of the Harlem sub-culture have been oversimplified and distorted by Malcolm X to meet his own needs.”

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey