Join free

splinter

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

splinter¹

  • /ˈsplɪn.tə/ UK
  • [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰə] UK
  • /ˈsplɪn.tɚ/ Australia
  • [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰə] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰɐ̝] Australia
  • /ˈsplɪn̆.ə/ Australia
  • [ˈspl̥ɪn̆.ə] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪn̆.ɐ̝] Australia
  • /ˈsplɪn.tɚ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰɚ] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰɚ] Canada, US
  • /ˈsplɪɾ̃.ɚ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈspl̥ɪɾ̃.ɚ] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪɾ̃.ɹ̩] Canada, US

Rhymes with -ɪntə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

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

noun splinters

  1. A long, sharp fragment of material, often wood.
  2. A small such fragment that gets embedded in the flesh.
  3. A group that formed by splitting off from a larger membership.

    Similar: faction, splinter group

  4. A double-jump bid which indicates shortage in the bid suit.
  5. A fragment of a component word in a blend.

Similar: sliver, shard, spelk, spill

splinter²

  • /ˈsplɪn.tə/ UK
  • [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰə] UK
  • /ˈsplɪn.tɚ/ Australia
  • [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰə] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰɐ̝] Australia
  • /ˈsplɪn̆.ə/ Australia
  • [ˈspl̥ɪn̆.ə] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪn̆.ɐ̝] Australia
  • /ˈsplɪn.tɚ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰɚ] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪn.tʰɚ] Canada, US
  • /ˈsplɪɾ̃.ɚ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈspl̥ɪɾ̃.ɚ] ~ [ˈspl̥ɪɾ̃.ɹ̩] Canada, US

Rhymes with -ɪntə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From the noun splinter.

verb splinters · splintering · splintered

  1. intransitive To come apart into long sharp fragments. The tall tree splintered during the storm.
  2. transitive To cause to break apart into long sharp fragments. His third kick splintered the door.
  3. figuratively, of a group To break, or cause to break, into factions. The government splintered when the coalition members could not agree.
  4. transitive To fasten or confine with splinters, or splints, as a broken limb. it will be very hard for Me to Splinter up the broken confuséd Pieces of it.

Similar: sliver

Splinter³

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Dutch and North German Splinter.

proper noun Splinters

  1. A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: sliver, flinders, break away, secede, shard, splitting, fragment, flash, lustre, glow, shine, brilliance, brightness, breakaway, shrapnel, glare

noun

Similar: sliver, shard, spelk, spill

verb

Similar: sliver

Translations

Every language

noun fragment of material

Españolastilla, esquirla
한국어조각 jogak, 지저깨비 jijeokkaebi
日本語破片 hahen, 刺 toge
中文碎片 suìpiàn, 刺 cì
Portuguêsfarpa
Françaiséclat, esquille, écharde
DeutschSplitter, Splinter, Schiefer, Spreißel
Italianoscheggia
Ελληνικάσκλήθρα sklíthra, θραύσμα thráfsma, ακίδα akída
Românăașchie
Русскийще́пка ščépka, зано́за zanóza
العربيةشَظِيَّة šaẓiyya
עבריתקֵיסָם kesám, שְׁבָב shvav

noun group

Portuguêsfacção
Françaisfaction
DeutschSplittergruppe
Italianofazione
Românăfacțiune
Русскийотщепе́нцы otščepéncy

verb to come apart into splinters

Españolastillarse
Portuguêsesfarpar
Françaisbroyer
Deutschzersplittern
Italianoscheggiarsi
Русскийрасщепляться rasščepljatʹsja, раскалываться raskalyvatʹsja

verb to cause to break apart into splinters

Españolastillar
Portuguêsesfarpar
Deutschzersplittern
Italianoscheggiare
Русскийрасщеплять rasščepljatʹ, раскалывать raskalyvatʹ

verb to break or cause to break into factions

Italianofare a pezzi, dividere

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"splinter." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/splinter. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

splinter. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/splinter

Chicago

"splinter." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/splinter.

BibTeX
@misc{splinter_2026,
  title = {splinter},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/splinter},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}