splinter Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a small thin sharp bit or wood or glass or metal
    sliver.
    • he got a splinter in his finger
    • it broke into slivers
  2. verb withdraw from an organization or communion
    break away; secede.
    • After the break up of the Soviet Union, many republics broke away
  3. verb divide into slivers or splinters
    sliver.
  4. verb break up into splinters or slivers
    sliver.
    • The wood splintered

WordNet

Splin"ter transitive verb
Etymology
Cf. LG. splittern, splinteren. See Splint, n., Split.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Splintered ; present participle & verbal noun Splintering
Definitions
  1. To split or rend into long, thin pieces; to shiver; as, the lightning splinters a tree.
    After splintering their lances, they wheeled about, and . . . abandoned the field to the enemy. Prescott.
  2. To fasten or confine with splinters, or splints, as a broken limb. Bp. Wren.
Splin"ter intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To become split into long pieces.
Splin"ter noun
Etymology
See Splinter, v., or Splint, n.
Definitions
  1. A thin piece split or rent off lengthwise, as from wood, bone, or other solid substance; a thin piece; a sliver; as, splinters of a ship's mast rent off by a shot.

Webster 1913