splinter

[ splin-ter ]

/ ˈsplɪn tər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR splinter ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small, thin, sharp piece of wood, bone, or the like, split or broken off from the main body.

splinter group.

verb (used with object)

to split or break into splinters.

to break off (something) in splinters.

to split or break (a larger group) into separate factions or independent groups.

Obsolete. to secure or support by a splint or splints, as a broken limb.

verb (used without object)

to be split or broken into splinters.

to break off in splinters.

Nearby words

Origin of splinter

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle Dutch or Middle Low German; cf. splint

SYNONYMS FOR splinter

1. sliver. 8. separate, part, split.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR splinter ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formssplin·ter·less, adjectivesplin·ter·y, adjectiveun·splin·tered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for splintered

Upstairs, in the living room, splintered logs of hemlock cackled and spat from inside the wood stove.
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They splintered themselves into two categories: “Hardcore” and “Casual.”
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He didn't lose anyone in "The Sudden Departure," but his family has splintered anyway.
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Lieutenant Green was first through the narrow, splintered opening his men had created in the door.
When Robert E. Lee Met John Brown and Saved the Union|Michael Korda|May 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The stories are splintered and refracted, the progressions coiled.
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They stood before the splintered, lightning-scarred shaft in the opening of the woods, where Low had built her first camp-fire.
In the Carquinez Woods|Bret Harte
The Goat Man fired, but splintered the corner of the galley.
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When their clubs were splintered, they leapt one upon the other and wrestled fiercely, struggling with all their might.
Indian Myth and Legend|Donald Alexander Mackenzie
The effort was hopeless, and Pierre took the broken leg and felt the rough edges of the splintered bone through the skin.
Riders of the Silences|John Frederick
From a shallow pit amidships jutted the broken arm of a mast, its splintered tip pointing toward the blindly watching moon.
Isle of the Undead|Lloyd Arthur Eshbach

British Dictionary definitions for splintered

splinter

/ (ˈsplɪntə) /

noun

a very small sharp piece of wood, glass, metal, etc, characteristically long and thin, broken off from a whole

a metal fragment, from the container of a shell, bomb, etc, thrown out during an explosion

verb

to reduce or be reduced to sharp fragments; shatter

to break or be broken off in small sharp fragments

Word Origin for splinter

C14: from Middle Dutch splinter; see splint

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for splintered

splinter

late 14c., from Middle Dutch splinter, splenter "a splinter," related to splinte (see splint). The adjective (as in splinter party) is first recorded 1935, from the noun.

splinter

1580s, from splinter (n.). Figurative sense from c.1600. Related: Splintered; splintering.

splinter

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Nearby words

Origin of splinter

Examples from the Web for splintered

splinter

noun

verb

Word Origin for splinter

splinter

splinter