splinter

• (non-rhotic)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsplɪn.tə/, [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰə]
  • (General Australian)
    • (without nt-flapping) IPA^(key): /ˈsplɪn.tɚ/, [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰə] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰɐ̝]

      • Audio (Australia):

        (file)

    • (nt-flapping) IPA^(key): /ˈsplɪn̆.ə/, [ˈspl̥ɪn̆.ə] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪn̆.ɐ̝]
• (rhotic)
  • (US, Canada)
    • (without nt-flapping) IPA^(key): /ˈsplɪn.tɚ/, [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰɚ] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰɚ]

      • Audio (US):

        (file)

    • (nt-flapping) IPA^(key): /ˈsplɪɾ̃.ɚ/, [ˈspl̥ɪɾ̃.ɚ] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪɾ̃.ɹ̩]
• Rhymes: -ɪntə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: splin‧ter

From Middle English splenter, splinter, from Middle Dutch splinter, equivalent to splint +‎ -er.

splinter (plural splinters)

1. A long, sharp fragment of material, often wood.
   2. A small such fragment that gets embedded in the flesh.
2. A group that formed by splitting off from a larger membership.
3. (bridge) A double-jump bid which indicates shortage in the bid suit.
4. (linguistics) A fragment of a component word in a blend.

• (long sharp fragment): sliver, shard, spelk, spill.
• (group formed by splitting): faction, splinter group.

From the noun splinter.

splinter (third-person singular simple present splinters, present participle splintering, simple past and past participle splintered)

1. (intransitive) To come apart into long sharp fragments.

   The tall tree splintered during the storm.

   • 2012, Marcus Samuelsson, “One: My African Mother”, in Yes, Chef, Random House, →ISBN, page 6:

     It was all coming at her now: the fatigue and the fever; pieces of her lung splintering and mixing with her throwup; the calcifications on her bones, where the disease had already spread.

2. (transitive) To cause to break apart into long sharp fragments.

   His third kick splintered the door.

   • 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:

     After splintering their lances, they wheeled about, and […] abandoned the field to the enemy.

3. (figuratively, of a group) To break, or cause to break, into factions.

   The government splintered when the coalition members could not agree.

   The unpopular new policies splintered the company.

4. (transitive) To fasten or confine with splinters, or splints, as a broken limb.
   • 1659, Matthew Wren, Monarchy Asserted Or The State of Monarchicall & Popular Government:

     it will be very hard for Me to Splinter up the broken confuséd Pieces of it.

From Middle Dutch splinter.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsplɪn.tər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: splin‧ter
• Rhymes: -ɪntər

splinter m (plural splinters, diminutive splintertje n)

1. splinter (long, sharp fragment of material)

• splinterpartij

• Negerhollands: splinter
• → Papiamentu: spleenter (dated)

splinter

1. alternative form of splenter