spline

American  

[splahyn] / splaɪn /

noun

1. a long, narrow, thin strip of wood, metal, etc.; slat.

2. a long, flexible strip of wood or the like, used in drawing curves.

3. Machinery.

   1. any of a series of uniformly spaced ridges on a shaft, parallel to its axis and fitting inside corresponding grooves in the hub of a gear, etc., to transmit torque.

   2. feather key.

4. Building Trades. a thin strip of material inserted into the edges of two boards, acoustic tiles, etc., to make a butt joint between them; a feather.

5. Mathematics, Engineering. a function that has specified values at a finite number of points and consists of segments of polynomial functions joined smoothly at these points, enabling it to be used for approximation and interpolation of functions.

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verb (used with object)

Machinery.

splined, splining

1. to provide with a spline or key.

2. to provide with a keyway.

spline British  

/ splaɪn /

noun

1. any one of a series of narrow keys ( external splines ) formed longitudinally around the circumference of a shaft that fit into corresponding grooves ( internal splines ) in a mating part: used to prevent movement between two parts, esp in transmitting torque

2. a long narrow strip of wood, metal, etc; slat

3. a thin narrow strip made of wood, metal, or plastic fitted into a groove in the edge of a board, tile, etc, to connect it to another

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verb

1. (tr) to provide (a shaft, part, etc) with splines

Etymology

Origin of spline

First recorded in 1750–60; originally East Anglian dialect ; perhaps akin to splint; compare Old English splin “spindle”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spline splined splining

To hold the cane webbing in place, add wood glue and a reed spline — a continuous strip of material that fills the gap.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024

The points mark the computed 1 − CL values and the curve is their spline interpolation.

From Nature ● May 12, 2015

A restricted cubic spline regression model and a simple linear regression model were used to investigate the association between mitoflash activity and the lifespan.

From Nature ● Apr. 4, 2014

This modeling technique allows adjusting a temporal spline based on maximum likelihood, while giving the possibility to account for repeated measurements on the same colonies within a given year.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 20, 2012

The sliding half is driven by a feather fast in its bore, and sliding in a feather-way or spline in the shaft.

From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua

Upon this shaft are two loose bevelled pinions d2 d4, between which, and splined to the shaft, is a clutch f.

From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua

Power is communicated to the driving spindle by means of a sliding pinion on a splined rod inside the bed, the driving belt and gears being at the end.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 455, September 20, 1884 by Various

The feed screw is splined to give an independent feed, and the swing frame is operated by a worm as shown.

From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua

That part of the bottom that cleared the water, at the bow and under the stern, was often made of tongue-and-groove planking, or else the seams athwartship would be splined.

From The Migrations of an American Boat Type by Chapelle, Howard I. (Howard Irving)

On most boring mills, connection is made with one of the splined shafts V or screw H, by a movable gear, which is placed on whichever shaft will give the desired direction of feed.

From Turning and Boring A specialized treatise for machinists, students in the industrial and engineering schools, and apprentices, on turning and boring methods, etc. by Jones, Franklin D.

They even mastered the art of splining, a technique of bending wood, though that too wasn’t without its challenges.

From New York Times ● Oct. 4, 2021