splitting

[split-ing]

adjective

1. being split or causing something to split.

2. violent or severe, as a headache.

3. very fast or rapid.

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

/ ˈsplɪtɪŋ /

adjective

1. (of a headache) intolerably painful; acute

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of splitting¹

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

Example Sentences

But does this project not run the risk of splitting the left-wing vote and ultimately making life easier for parties on the right?

From BBC

Malle, the daughter of actress Candice Bergen and French film director Louis Malle, grew up splitting her time between Paris and Los Angeles until her father died when she was 10 years old.

From BBC

Its tradition and interests demand flexibility in a world that is not splitting neatly into two camps but fracturing in more complex ways.

From BBC

Oliver said the CCN's analysis showed "that splitting county areas into unitary councils with populations as small as 300,000 will create hundreds of millions of new unsustainable costs for local taxpayers".

From BBC

No. 1 single with “Every Breath You Take” before splitting in 1984.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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