sliver

American  

[sliv-er] / ˈslɪv ər /

noun

• slivers
  plural

1. a small, slender, often sharp piece, as of wood or glass, split, broken, or cut off, usually lengthwise or with the grain; splinter.

2. any small, narrow piece or portion.

   A sliver of sky was visible.

3. a strand of loose, untwisted fibers produced in carding.

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verb (used with object)

1. to split or cut off (a sliver) or to split or cut into slivers.

   to sliver a log into kindling.

2. to form (textile fibers) into slivers.

verb (used without object)

1. to split.

sliver British  

/ ˈslɪvə /

noun

1. a thin piece that is cut or broken off lengthwise; splinter

2. a loose strand or fibre obtained by carding

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verb

1. to divide or be divided into splinters; split

2. (tr) to form (wool, etc) into slivers

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sliver-like
  adjective
• sliverlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• slivers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of sliver

1325–75; Middle English slivere (noun), derivative of sliven to split, Old English -slīfan (in tōslīfan to split up

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Explanation

A very thin slice or bit of something is a sliver. A sliver of hope is better than a sliver of doubt, but having a sliver of wood in your foot is the worst. That’s called a splinter, and it hurts! You'll want to watch out for slivers of glass if you break a drinking glass in the sink, and machinists have to wear special protective goggles to guard against flying slivers of metal. If you just want a bite of dessert, you can ask for just a sliver of cheesecake. Sliver is also a verb, meaning "splinter," or "cut into thin pieces." It comes from a verb that's now obsolete, sliven, "to split."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sliver slivers

The oil company’s journey above that mark was brief and it said more about a raging bull market at the time and the small sliver of stock that was sold than PetroChina’s true value.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Three weeks is only a sliver of the NFL season; a backsliding team has plenty of time to correct its course.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

“We understand trading cards represents a small sliver of the business” for Target, “likely in the 1% to 2% range of total revenue,” the Mizuho analysts, led by David Bellinger, said in their note.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

Now the main event is here, the last sliver of the culture the public can all discuss without wrestling each other in the supermarket parking lot:

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

“This way,” Alexander said, and disappeared into a sliver of shadow that somehow seemed darker than the rest.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

I was skeptical when I first came across a recipe for dates generously filled with slivers of butter, finished off with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

Mr Mohammed says that his father and grandfather had dug through these plots for decades but discovered nothing more that "dust and slivers of quartz".

From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025

Thin slivers of pig’s ears came with long-cooked pork belly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025

Those tactics included secretly cornering slivers of the financial markets and “watering” stock—defrauding investors by issuing shares well above their book value.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2025

I look through the vent, and in the slivers of light I can see pieces of a curved stairwell.

From "Legend" by Marie Lu

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Related Words

• flake
• fragment
• shaving
• shred
• slice
• snippet

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