splint
Americannoun
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splints
plural
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a thin piece of wood or other rigid material used to immobilize a fractured or dislocated bone, or to maintain any part of the body in a fixed position.
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one of a number of thin strips of wood woven together to make a chair seat, basket, etc.
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Veterinary Medicine. an exostosis or bony enlargement of a splint bone of a horse or a related animal.
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Armor.
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any of a number of narrow plates or lames joined with rivets or a backing to form a piece of armor.
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a partial vambrace protecting only the outer part of the arm.
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British Dialect. a splinter of wood or stone.
verb (used with object)
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splints,
present (3rd person singular)
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splinted,
past participle, past
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splinting
present participle
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to secure, hold in position, or support by means of a splint or splints, as a fractured bone.
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to support as if with splints.
noun
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a rigid support for restricting movement of an injured part, esp a broken bone
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a thin sliver of wood, esp one that is used to light cigars, a fire, etc
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a thin strip of wood woven with others to form a chair seat, basket, etc
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vet science inflammation of the small metatarsal or metacarpal bones along the side of the cannon bone of a horse
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one of the overlapping metal plates used in armour after about 1330
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another word for splinter
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
splintsimple
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splintssimple
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have splintedperfect
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has splintedperfect
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am splintingprogressive
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are splintingprogressive
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is splintingprogressive
-
have been splintingperfect progressive
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has been splintingperfect progressive
Past
-
splintedsimple
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had splintedperfect
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was splintingprogressive
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were splintingprogressive
-
had been splintingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of splint
1275–1325; Middle English < Middle Dutch or Middle Low German splinte; cf. splinter
Explanation
A splint is something that's used to keep a person's arm or leg straight and immobile while a broken bone is healing. If you break your wrist, you may need to wear a splint for a while. Some splints are temporary, meant to keep an injured person's bones from moving until they can be examined by a doctor. EMTs and other emergency workers often use splints while transporting someone to a hospital. You can also use this word as a verb: "Let's splint your dog's leg and get her to the vet." A strip of wood can also be called a splint.
Vocabulary lists containing splint
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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:
Vanderbilt had his finger taped and had a splint on the finger after the game.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
Jones survived the strongest hurricane in Jamaican history while he was injured, wearing a homemade splint on his right leg from a fracture he suffered during a biking accident before Melissa hit.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2025
In an interview for Saga magazine, he revealed he was still recovering from the experience, with his neck in a brace and right hand in a splint.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2024
An X-ray found no fractures or vascular injuries in her hand, which was put in a finger splint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2024
And for me to strap up his arm in a splint would have meant my becoming one of the main perpetrators of the joke.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
The most recent work, Berenice Olmedo’s “Amalia,” a motorized sculpture of a leg made from medical prostheses, splints and braces, was created in 2021, a comment on difficulties faced by the disabled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
The centre was set up around 60 years ago by a Belgian Catholic association and has a workshop for producing prostheses, splints and braces.
From Barron's ● Dec. 21, 2025
A large orbital prosthesis and neck scar splints have been made with the aid of the centre's technology.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2025
Plastic spoons serve as splints for broken fingers, children are examined in makeshift tents and cough drops are handed out by the hundreds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2023
As part of the operation, I had splints stuck in my nose.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
“They were able to put his finger back together and it’s splinted and he’s day-to-day,” Redick said Wednesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
He added: "This additional air is what splinted the diaphragm and caused the collapse."
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2023
What he did recall was having his arm splinted in a comfortable position and making plans to have surgery the next day at a hospital in the Chicagoland area unaffiliated with Froedtert South.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2022
While our limbs and organs can heal, our public places often remain shattered, splinted back to working order only with the grotesque apparatus of surveillance and security.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 15, 2022
“Ohh, that’s good, good, Mary, that’s good. If she splinted him already, he should be as good as new in, I don’t know, maybe a month.”
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
It was a very interesting nine-month tour of duty in military service, tactical training, and of course the medical aspect of evaluating injuries, administering morphine, splinting and stopping bleeding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
Cross-examining Dr Evans, Mr Myers said: "If you really thought that splinting the diaphragm was a cause of death you would have stated that before today, wouldn't you?"
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2022
When the records arrived, they showed the splinting that Shah remembered but not the treatment that was driving up his bill.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2022
A trauma nurse and a medical doctor were among the group of hikers and Justa said they helped tremendously with splinting, wrapping injuries and taking her vitals, for which he’s grateful.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 24, 2016
Mudd finishes splinting the leg, then leaves Booth alone in an upstairs room to rest.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Definitions 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.
