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Definition of "splinter" [splin•ter]

  • A sharp, slender piece, as of wood, bone, glass, or metal, split or broken off from a main body. (noun)
  • A splinter group. (noun)
  • To split or break into sharp, slender pieces; form splinters. See Synonyms at break. (verb-intransitive)
  • To cause to splinter. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "splinter" in a sentence
  • "Onward and upward he led until all at once we reached a narrow platform, railed round and hung about with plaited rope screens which he called splinter-mats, over which I had a view of land and water, of ships and basins, of miles of causeways and piers, none of which had been in existence before the war."
  • "Now I must go to Google to determine the answer to this early-morning brain splinter …."
  • "A waggon locked wheels for a moment and ripped a long splinter from the chaise."