splitting

American  

[split-ing] / ˈsplɪt ɪŋ /

adjective

1. being split or causing something to split.

2. violent or severe, as a headache.

3. very fast or rapid.

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noun

1. Usually splittings. a part or fragment that has been split off from something.

   Some cavemen made their smaller tools from the splittings of stone.

splitting British  

/ ˈsplɪtɪŋ /

adjective

1. (of a headache) intolerably painful; acute

2. (of the head) assailed by an overpowering unbearable pain

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noun

1. psychoanal the Freudian defence mechanism in which an object or idea (or, alternatively, the ego) is separated into two or more parts in order to remove its threatening meaning

Other Word Forms

• antisplitting adjective

Etymology

Origin of splitting

First recorded in 1585–95; split + -ing ², -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Mom had tried to explain how that worked once, but it had given me a splitting headache, so she’d stopped.

From Literature

He’s padded the movie with shots of B.J. grooving by himself in a taxicab or splitting his pants while showing off his dance moves.

From Los Angeles Times

I was out at the woodpile, splitting kindling, when he came sailing out of the henhouse.

From Literature

The drugmaker is splitting its Human Health business into an oncology unit and a specialty, pharmaceuticals, and infectious diseases unit.

From Barron's

While England have no option but to go full bore against the Springboks, there is the option of splitting the squad for the following week.

From BBC

Related Words

• breakdown
• disintegration
• dissolution
• divorce
• separation
• split
• termination