splice

American  

[splahys] / splaɪs /

verb (used with object)

splices, present (3rd person singular) spliced, past participle, past splicing present participle

1. to join together or unite (two ropes or parts of a rope) by the interweaving of strands.

2. to unite (timbers, spars, or the like) by overlapping and binding their ends.

3. to unite (film, magnetic tape, or the like) by butting and cementing.

4. to join or unite.

5. Genetics. to join (segments of DNA or RNA) together.

6. Informal. to unite in marriage.

   They'll be spliced in June.

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noun

splices plural

1. a joining of two ropes or parts of a rope by splicing.

2. the union or junction made by splicing.

3. a joining or junction of two pieces of timber, spar, etc., by overlapping and fastening the ends.

4. a joining of film, electromagnetic tape, or the like.

idioms

1. splice the main brace,

   1. to issue a ration of spirits, as grog, to all hands.

   2. to drink spirits.

splice British  

/ splaɪs /

verb

1. to join (two ropes) by intertwining the strands

2. to join up the trimmed ends of (two pieces of wire, film, magnetic tape, etc) with solder or an adhesive material

3. to join (timbers) by overlapping and binding or bolting the ends together

4. informal (passive) to enter into marriage

   the couple got spliced last Saturday

5. nautical history to issue and partake of an extra allocation of alcoholic spirits

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noun

1. a join made by splicing

2. the place where such a join occurs

3. the wedge-shaped end of a cricket-bat handle or similar instrument that fits into the blade

splice Scientific  

/ splīs /

1. 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.

2. See also exon intron

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• splicer
  noun
• resplice
  verb (used with object)
• undersplice
  verb (used with object)
• spliceable
  adjective
• unspliced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• splices
  plural

Participles

• splicing
  present
• spliced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• splice
  simple
• splices
  simple
• have spliced
  perfect
• has spliced
  perfect
• am splicing
  progressive
• are splicing
  progressive
• is splicing
  progressive
• have been splicing
  perfect progressive
• has been splicing
  perfect progressive

Past

• spliced
  simple
• had spliced
  perfect
• was splicing
  progressive
• were splicing
  progressive
• had been splicing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will splice
  simple
• will have spliced
  perfect
• will be splicing
  progressive
• will have been splicing
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

splice splices spliced splicing

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

When a gene is copied into a raw RNA transcript, it usually can be processed in different ways to form distinct splice variants or isoforms; thus, a single gene may produce several different proteins.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 9, 2024

“We wanted to distill the essence of the city and condense it and splice it up so we could get more of the feeling of a place in a smaller area,” Heath says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2024

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

Neurons never actually touch one another or splice together.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

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

Before Gould, such splices, inserts, dubbings and other tools of the recording engineers were generally seen as remedies for brief mistakes, sometimes of a single note.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2024

Slowly, meticulously, he unwraps the coil, carries the entire looped mess downstairs, and calls Jutta inside to hold the pieces for him while he splices the breaks.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

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

Carr wrote in the letter, seen by AFP, that the broadcast by the BBC's Panorama programme spliced together clips that were 54 minutes apart.

From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025

Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino, who has been leading operations in California, posted a fast-moving video on X that spliced L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025

A few minutes later, he found a series of correspondence spliced together into one file that almost made his heart stop.The icy chills from before turned into a cold sweat.

From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner

Far from simply pressing a button, film projectionists must actively guide a screening, threading and splicing reels and closely monitoring for mechanical issues.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

Some are using genetic testing and exploring gene splicing to produce children with desired traits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025

He said the error did not amount to "innocent splicing".

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2025

What her character sees, where she chooses to stand and look, makes up much of the film, although the editing team does phenomenal work splicing in other characters’ points of view.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2025

“I suppose you thought you could hide,” she said to the kitchen table, where Mia had been carefully splicing a photograph of a dog and a man together.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

Related Words

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