| 释义 |
▪ I. split, n.1|splɪt|
Also 6 splitte, 7 splitt.
[f. split v. and ppl. a. Cf. LG. splitt, G. spliss, NFris. spledd.]
1. a. A narrow break or opening made by splitting; a cleft, crack, rent, or chink; a fissure.
1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. lf. xiv b/2 That which must entre into the splitte, or els betweene the depressed bones. Ibid. lf. xvii b/2 In the which is a splitte, throughe the which the blade passeth. 1648Hexham ii, Een Splete, a Split, or a Cleft. 1849Cupples Green Hand iv. (1856) 50 The long ragged split to westward was opened up, and a clear glaring glance of the sky..shot through it. 1855Ruffini Dr. Antonio ii, I see a split in that door behind your bed. 1888Rutley Rock-Forming Min. 171 The cleavage planes..give rise to striations or fine splits.
b. techn. An angular groove cut on glass vessels.
1850Holtzapffel Turning III. 1299 For angular grooves, or splits, up the side of a decanter, or similar object, a mill with an angular edge is employed. 1891Sale Catal. Glass Wks. Stourbridge, Twenty clarets, cut splits.
c. A division formed by splitting.
1875Buckland Log-Bk. 227 A horn on one side branching into splits, the other being perfect in form.
2. a. A piece of wood separated or formed by splitting. Now U.S.
1617Minsheu Ductor 462/2 Splits, or splents of wood. 1633Ford 'Tis Pity v. iii, Some under-shrubs shall in my weighty fall Be crush'd to splits; with me they all shall perish! 1664Min. Bk. Coopers Glasgow in Jamieson Suppl. (1887) 321 That..nane of thame..sal buy any runges, stinges, splittis, or stappis, from the saidis four persounes. 1725Family Dict. s.v. Bee-Hive, And these are either Wicker-Hives, made with Splits of Wood,..or Straw-Hives. 1778Pryce Min. Cornub. 151 To each crank is fixed a straight half split of balk timber. 1837L. Hebert Engin. & Mech. Encycl. I. 154 The osiers are divided into four parts, lengthways, which are called splits. 1864Lowell Fireside Trav. 151 Making our bed of some ‘splits’ which we poked from the roof. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2281/2 Split, a ribbon of wood rived from a rough piece of green timber.
Comb.1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 58 Hickory and oak both yield the necessary wood, and chairs of this kind are known, especially in the South, as split-bottom chairs. 1893T. N. Page Ole Virginia 204 He was plumped down in his great split-bottomed chair.
b. Weaving. A dent (orig. a piece of split reed or cane) in the reed of a loom. Sc.
1748Rec. Elgin (1903) I. 188 The web of 1200 wrought two's in a reed containing 1200 splits upon 40½in. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 1056 In Scotland, the splits of cane which pass between the..ribs of the reed, are expressed by hundreds, porters, and splits. The porter is 20 splits. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1903/2 Two warp-threads count for 1 split.
c. techn. (See quot. 1858.)
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Splits, a term, in the leather trade, for divided skins which have been separated into two sections by the cutting machine; there being tanned splits and salted splits. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2281/2 Splits of the smaller skins, such as goat and sheep, are made into wash or glove leather. 1882Encycl. Brit. XIV. 386 In the case of a single split the portions form a grain and flesh side.
d. Canad. (chiefly Newfoundland). A piece of kindling-wood. Usu. in pl.
1858R. T. S. Lowell New Priest in Conception Bay I. 74 The fire, where the round bake-pot stood, covered with its blazing ‘splits’. 1919W. T. Grenfell Labrador Days 198 ‘Get a few more splits, then, boy,’ she replied, ‘and I'll be cutting t' pork t' while.’ 1976Taylor & Horwood Beyond Road 55 Well, one time I was only a small boy gettin' in the splits—that's kindling.
e. Anglo-Irish. A piece of bogwood burned for illumination.
1892Ballymena Observer 29 Apr. 6/1 Splits, long thin pieces of bogwood used for giving light. 1957E. E. Evans Irish Folk Ways xiv. 185 Considerable use was made of buried timber dug from the bogs, of oak for roofing beams and..resinous ‘splits’ to give light.
3. a. A rupture, breach, division, or dissension in a party or sect, or between friends.
1729Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 439 The brethren..might meet together,..and consider what was to be done..to guard against a split among ourselves. 1826Scott Diary 21 Jan., I fear the split betwixt Constable and Cadell will render impossible what might otherwise be hopeful enough. 1852Disraeli Ld. G. Bentinck xxv. 520 He felt..that there would be a ‘split’ in the ranks. 1886Duke of Devonshire in B. Holland Life (1911) II. xxi. 127 The responsibility of provoking an open split in the party..was too great.
b. A body or party formed by a rupture or schism.
1883Standard 22 Mar. 2/1 The Patriotic Brotherhood..consisted of part of the ‘splits’ of the Old Ribbon Society combined. 1891Newcastle Daily Jrnl. 9 Mar. 8/2 ‘Do you belong to the split?’ asked one Scotchman of another.
4. a. (at) full split, or like split, at full speed; as fast as possible. U.S.
1836Haliburton Clockm. Ser. i. xxx, Most on 'em, arter the second shot, cut and run full split. a1848‘Major J. Downing’ May-day in N.Y. 64 (Bartlett), There was no end to the one-hoss teams, goin' like split all over the city. 1867Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 665 [To] drive by so close, at full split, as to just turn the fly round. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms 145 Out of the house in one minute, and in saddle and off full-split the next.
b. the splits, in acrobatics or stage-dancing: (see quot. 1883). Also in sing.
1861Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 90, I had to do the splits and strides. Ibid. 99/2, I had learnt to do a split, holding a half-hundred in my teeth. 1883Chambers's Jrnl. 130 Doing the splits is..separating the legs until they extend at right angles to the body, which is thus lowered to the ground. 1895Pall Mall G. 1 Feb. 4/2 The average music-hall audience..demanding extravagant high-kicking, splits, and cart-wheels.
c. The act or process of splitting; an instance of this.
1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 914 Blows or crushes resulting in the split of a vessel..have produced aortic aneurism. 1902N. & Q. 9th Ser. IX. 172/1 One of the most striking ‘splits’ [of an infinitive].
d. U.S. = split-up s.v. split-.
1972N.Y. Law Jrnl. 10 Oct. 3/2 Tacking is permitted for stock dividends and splits, recapitalizations, [etc.]. 1976[see split-down s.v. split-].
5. Mining.
a. (See quot. 1881.)
1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 316 The ore in the western branches of the two splits is decidedy softer than that in the eastern ones. 1881― Mining Gloss. s.v., When a parting in a coal-seam becomes so thick that the two portions of the seam must be worked separately, each is called a split.
b. A division of a ventilating air-current.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 231 Each separate district should have its own split of fresh air. 1892Labour Comm. Gloss. No. 3, Splits, the radiating passages through which the main current of air ventilating a mine is subdivided or split up for circulation.
c. (See quot.)
1886J. Barrowman Sc. Mining Terms 63 Split, a room or end driven through a pillar.
6. slang. An informer; a detective; a policeman.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., To split upon a person, or turn split, is synonymous with nosing,..or turning nose. 1857Slang Dict. 19. 1891 M. Williams Later Leaves xxvii. 326 A man came into one of the other compartments, and..said: ‘You are talking to a split’. 1932‘G. Orwell’ Coll. Essays (1968) I. 89 He would..exclaim ‘Fucking toe-rag!’..meaning the ‘split’ who had arrested him. 1935G. Ingram Cockney Cavalcade xiii. 202 ‘Here's the ‘splits’, boys!’ A young lad who had been at the entrance with some others, had seen a police-car draw up and risked his liberty by dashing in to warn the hall occupants. 1966W. Merrilees Short Arm of Law 140 At this point a destination board attendant asked another railway employee what the splits were after.
7. colloq.
a. A drink composed of two liquors.
1882Society 11 Nov. 22/2 The ‘nips’, the ‘stims’, the ‘sherries and Angosturas’, the ‘splits’ of young Contango. 1892Nation 28 July 66/1 One of the principal of the illicit beverages is a deadly compound called ‘split’, composed of alcohol and water.
b. A split soda; a bottle of mineral water half the usual size; a half-bottle of champagne.
1884G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 168 When she had finished Montgomery tried to persuade her to try a ‘split’ with him. 1896Bradford Observer 5 Oct., Apollinaris [table water]. Now supplied in splits. 1973T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 5 All that's keeping him up there is an empty champagne split in his hip pocket, that's got hooked somehow. 1980N.Y. Times 6 Nov. c2/3 To uncork a split of Champagne, some of which froths to the ground.
c. A split roll or bun.
1905Westm. Gaz. 29 Dec. 2/1 We..were dried and warmed and given hot tea, splits and butter, and cakes.
d. A split vote.
1894Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 7/1 If Mr. Burgess got Conservative splits, as well as split votes between himself and Mr. Broadhurst.
e. A sweet dish consisting of sliced fruit (esp. banana, split open lengthways), with ice-cream, syrup, etc. orig. U.S.
1920, etc. [see banana split s.v. banana 4]. 1936[see parfait]. 1938G. Greene Brighton Rock i. i. 17 That's what I want, a sundae. Delia likes splits best. 1939A. Huxley After Many a Summer i. x. 135 Virginia was at the soda-counter, pensively eating a chocolate-and-banana split. 1979M. Denny Fruit in Season 33 Banana splits... Place one banana per person in a dish with a portion of ice-cream in the centre... Pour a little chocolate sauce over.
f. N. Amer. A split-level house.
1970Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 28/7 Back splits, side splits, bungalows. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 6 July 5-d/7 (Advt.), This gorgeously decorated 4 level split. 1980Times 7 Apr. 5/6 French-speakers [in Montreal] would buy ‘side halls, split levels, back splits’.
g. A split shift (see split ppl. a. 3 a).
1973R. Busby Pattern of Violence iii. 41 I'm working the split today. Get that boss of yours to give you a couple of hours off. 1977P. Carter Under Goliath xxvi. 145 She..went moaning on... They were still at it at nine o'clock when Mr Black came back from his split.
8. slang.
a. A division or share of the proceeds of a legal or illegal undertaking.
1889Clarkson & Richardson Police! xxiii. 321 A share... Regular, split, drop. 1916Variety 27 Oct. 12/1 W. S. Campbell..would not accept the 55–45 division of the receipts offered by the management, Campbell wanting a 50–50 split. 1934J. T. Farrell Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan xiii. 206, I wasn't working for a long time, and then I got me this job, and now I'm also lined up with a can-house, and get my split on anybody I bring there. 1964J. P. Clark Three Plays 121 Both thieves Will certainly be content to settle For an even split. 1973J. Leasor Host of Extras i. 24 ‘I'll give you five thousand cash, the pair.’ I must know someone who could advance this on the promise of a fifty per cent split down the middle of the selling price?
b. N. Amer. A girl, a woman.
1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 111/2 Split, a girl. 1975Globe & Mail (Toronto) 16 Dec. 9/5 An announcement was posted that the force's first female officer Constable Jacqueline Hall, had been hired. ‘He's gone and hired another split, as if we don't have enough whores and splits in the department already,’ Mrs. Nesbitt quoted the sergeant as saying.
9. Croquet. (See quot. 1961.)
1896Cassell's Bk. Sports & Pastimes 305 The Split is a stroke used when you desire in taking croquet to move both balls some distance. 1961Croquet (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 36/1 Split, a croquet stroke in which the balls go in different directions.
10. U.S. Sports. A draw; a drawn series of matches.
1967[see double-header c]. 1974Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer 13 Oct. c1/1 The loss evened the C's exhibition slate to 2–2 and gave them a split in the two-game series with the Toros. 1976Springfield (Mass.) Daily News 22 Apr. 40/2 With the VL getting only a split in six battles.
Sense 4 d in Dict. becomes 4 e. Add: [4.] d. Weight-lifting. The action or technique of thrusting simultaneously one foot forward and the other backward to support the weight during a lift; the posture or attitude so assumed.
[1922W. A. Pullum Weight-Lifting made Easy v. 70 In ‘splitting’ the feet, distribute the weight principally over the forward foot.] 1955J. Murray Weight Lifting iii. 63 There are two basic styles of snatching... The first is the ‘split’. 1959Muscle Power May 46/2 Turn the hands under the weight as you lunge past it into the split. 1964B. Watson Tackle Weightlifting this Way viii. 74 You will find your progress quickens if you make a special point of leaning back slightly..when you go down in the split. 1975Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 1095/1 The two main techniques used are the split and squat as in the two hands snatch. 1984Weight Lifting (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) (ed. 2) 6/3 The lifter may recover in his own time, either from a split or a squat.
f. Sport. The time taken to complete a portion of a race, esp. recorded by a split-second watch and used as a comparative measure of performance. Cf. split time s.v. *split ppl. a. 3 a.
1958Track & Field News Mar. 11/1 For the record, the splits on Delany were 60.9, 2:03.2, and 3:05.3. 1962Swimming World Nov. 4 The pool-side walking coach and the shouted time split can now be replaced by large, easy to read clocks at each end of the pool for intermittent pace references. 1988Road Racing & Training 6/2 It's my guess that we're bang on target—that is 5½-minute-mile pace which should give us a 10 km split of 34:11.
▪ II. † split, n.2 Obs. rare.
[Given by earlier Continental writers (16–17th cent.) as an Alpine or ‘Illyrian’ name.]
(See quots.)
1713Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXVIII. 212 Yellow Fumitory or Split. Ibid. 213 Its glaucous Leaves and pale Flowers, differ it from the yellow Split.
▪ III. split, v.|splɪt|
Pa. tense and pple. split (also 6– splitted, 9 splitten).
[ad. MDu. splitten (Du. splitten, WFris. splitte), obscurely related to spletten splet v. and splīten (Du. splijten), MLG. and LG. splîten, MHG. splîzen (G. spleissen), etc. Cf. also spleet v.2 The earlier examples and senses indicate a nautical origin for the use of the word in English.]
It is doubtful whether the following early example is a figurative use of sense 1 b, or of sense 2:—
1576Gascoigne Steele Gl. E iij b, Great Alexander, drounde in drunkennesse, Cæsar and Pompey, split with priuy grudge.
I. trans.
1. Of storms, rocks, etc.: To break up (a ship); to cause to part asunder. Chiefly in pass.
1590Shakes. Com. Err. i. i. 104 Our helpefull ship was splitted in the midst. 1597J. King On Jonas (1618) 53 It fell not vpon rocks or shelues, but by the power of the onely winde was almost splitted. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xvi. 170 The first shippe was split with a tempest that did rise in the Lake. c1643Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 100 We coming..straight upon the Pier of Dover,..our ship was unfortunately split against it. 1680C. Nesse Ch. Hist. 345 By swallowing up the ship in the midst of the sea, or by splitting her upon the rocks. 1708Constit. Watermen's Co. lii, If any Waterman..happen to have his Boat..split, staved, or any ways damnified.
fig.1642D. Rogers Naaman To Rdr., [A rock which] unhappily split their hopes, and made shipwracke of all.
b. Of persons: In pass., to suffer shipwreck. Also in fig. contexts, and fig.
1602Marston Ant. & Mel. iii. E j b, That when a soule is splitted, sunke with griefe, He might fall thus, vpon the breast of earth. 1621R. Brathwait Nat. Embassie 9 He who Vlisses-like stands firme..shall be a spectator of his Companions misery, in himselfe secured while they are splitted. 1640in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 165 That I should sitt a Judge ther, wheere I was latelie in possibilitie to have been splitt & ruined. a1704T. Brown Sat. agst. Wom. Wks. 1730 I. 54, I shun the rock where Strephon has been split. 1772–84Cook's Voy. (1790) II. 445 We were surrounded with innumerable quantities of ice, and were in constant danger of being split by them.
transf.c1611Chapman Iliad xxiii. 386 We ride A way most dangerous; turn head, betime take larger field, We shall be splitted.
c. To have (one's vessel) wrecked.
a1700Evelyn Diary 12 Sept. 1641, Here we split our skiff.
2. To divide longitudinally by a sharp stroke or blow; to cause to burst or give way along the grain or length; to cleave or rend.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. vi. 30 Come Yorke and Richard,..I stab'd your Fathers bosomes; Split my brest. 1603― Meas. for M. ii. ii. 116 Thou..with thy sharpe and sulpherous bolt Splits the vn-wedgable and gnarled Oke. a1625Nomencl. Nav. (Harl. MS. 2301) s.v., If a Shot come and break a carriage of a Peece, wee saye it hath split the Carriage. 1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. xii. §13. 207 With the Cleaving-knife and the Mawl, split it into a square piece near the size. 1774Goldsmith Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 157 At Cajeta, in Italy, a mountain was split in this manner by an earthquake. 1827Faraday Chem. Manip. v. (1842) 151 It must be either broken in the hand, or split or crushed by a hammer on the anvil. 1849James Woodman xviii, I care not much whose head I split, if it comes in my way. 1878Browning Poets Croisic 32 Quick on flash Followed the thunder, splitting earth downright.
fig.1590Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 308 Oh times extremity Hast thou so crack'd and splitted my poore tongue [etc.]? 1606― Per. iii. i. 44 Blow, and split thyself.
b. Naut. Of wind: To rend or tear (a sail). Also of persons or a vessel: To have (a sail) rent or torn by the wind.
a1625Nomencl. Nav. (Harl. MS. 2301) s.v., When the winde hath blowne a Saile to peeces, wee saie the Saile is split. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 17 It is more Wind, come, hawl down both Top-sails close... The Sail is split. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 26 We split both our Main and Fore-top-sails. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. v. 170 The weather proved squally, and we split our maintop-sail. 1800Nelson 26 Feb. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) IV. 200 Ordered the Foudroyant to be anchored,..she having split her main topsail and foresail. 1901D. B. Hall & Ld. A. Osborne Sunshine & Surf ii. 17 The whole of our top⁓gallant square sail was split to ribbons.
c. Agric. To plough (a ridge) so as to throw the furrow-slice outward.
1807Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 116 The work is performed by what is called splitting; that is, the plough always turns upon the left to the first furrow, and the coulter is held close all the way to the lifted slice previously turned over. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 470 A ridge that has been ploughed the reverse to gathering up from the flat is said to be split, which is the short phrase for crown-and-furrow ploughing. 1891W. J. Malden Tillage 106 This is known as splitting the ridge, and is the best form.
d. Mining. (See quot.)
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 231 Split, to divide a pillar or post by driving through it one or more roads.
e. To separate or take apart longitudinally.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2279/2 The ends of the two others [sc. rope-strands] are united by splitting and interlacing in the same manner.
3. In various fig. uses:
a. Of violent grief or pain.
1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. iii. 300 O but remember this another day: When he shall split thy very heart with sorrow. 1605― Lear v. iii. 177 Let sorrow split my heart, if euer I Did hate thee. 1813Examiner 19 Apr. 242/2 Absolute happiness is in the power of no one, who has got..a head to be split with aching. 1829Scott Anne of G. xvii, In parting from thee I am splitting mine own heart in twain.
b. Of loud noise.
1602Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 12 [To] teare a Passion to tatters,..to split the eares of the Groundlings. 1607― Cor. v. vi. 52 You..had no welcomes home, but he returnes Splitting the Ayre with noyse. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. i. xii, The King swears; and now be the welkin split with vivats. 1865Parkman Champlain (1875) 327 The air was split with shrill outcries.
c. Of excessive laughter. (Cf. side n.1 1 c.)
1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., To split himself with laughter. 1704Cibber Careless Husb. iii, Seeing us ready to split our sides in laughing at nothing. 1809Malkin Gil Blas x. x. ⁋39 He laughed ready to split his sides. 1839Hood Nocturnal Sk. i, In the small Olympic pit, [to] sit split Laughing at Liston. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. iv, Lor! I was fit to split myself.
4. a. To divide or apportion to, or between, two or more persons.
1670Cotton Gamester x. (1680) 83 If the Honours are equally divided among the Gamesters of each side, then they say Honours are split. 1719Swift Stella's Birthday 9 O, would it please the gods to split Thy beauty, size, and years, and wit! No age could furnish out a pair Of nymphs [etc.]. 1824H. More in W. Roberts Life (1835) IV. 243 When I am obliged to split my attentions, it is a little fatiguing. 1837Dickens Pickw. ii, Not worth splitting a guinea;..toss who shall pay for both. 1864Lowell Fireside Trav. 225 They were just alike,..and you could not split an epithet between them. 1889Doyle Micah Clarke 220, I have been splitting a flask with our gallant Colonel.
absol.1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt xi, I'll plump or I'll split for them as treat me the handsomest.
b. To divide or break up into separate parts or portions.
1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 38 Standing upon the firm Deck, he..falls to splitting his Text most methodically. 1777Burke Let. to Sheriffs of Bristol Wks. 1842 I. 217 There are people, who have split and anatomised the doctrine of free government, as if it were an abstract question. 1785Paley Mor. Philos. iii. ii. v. §2 The proprietors..have it in their power to facilitate the maintenance..of families..by building cottages [and] splitting farms. 1813Ann. Reg., Gen. Hist. 49 The thing complained of was a novel practice of splitting votes by will. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 236 The practice of splitting freeholds for the purpose of multiplying votes dates from this memorable struggle. 1868Rules Stock Exch. no. 85, A Member splitting a ticket shall pay any increased expense caused by such splitting.
c. To divide or separate (persons) into parties, factions, groups, etc.
1712Steele Spect. No. 461 ⁋ 2 We are..split into so many different Sects and Parties. 1784Cowper Task v. 195 When Babel was confounded, and the great Confed'racy of projectors..Was split into diversity of tongues. 1861Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. iv. 63 They are easily split into parties by intrigue. 1885Gladstone in B. Holland Life Dk. Devonsh. (1911) II. xxi. 91 The question of the House of Lords, of the Church, or both, will probably split the Liberal Party.
refl.1885Manch. Exam. June 165/2 The enemy split themselves into two parties.
d. To divide or separate by the interposition of something.
1824L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 463 What is called splitting particles, or separating a preposition from the noun which it governs, is to be avoided. 1841Lytton Night & Morning ii. v, The man..said..‘Pawdon me, and split legs!’ therewith stretching himself between Philip's limbs, in the approved fashion of inside passengers! 1894Field 9 June 835/1 Mr. Marshall split Messrs Taylor's pair with Orphan, a good-looking grey. 1895Daily News 6 July 8/1 Mrs. Williamson splits her infinitives; hers is not a dandy way of writing.
e. Mining. (See later quots.)
1850Ansted Elem. Geol., Min., etc. 490 This whole current is divided by splitting into sixteen currents of above 11,000 cubit feet per minute. 1860Mining Gloss., Newcastle Terms 63 Splitting the air, dividing the air into different portions, each ventilating a separate district of the mine. 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 231 Split, to divide the ventilative current after it reaches the pit bottom.
f. Croquet. To drive (a ball) with a ‘splitting’ stroke.
1877Encycl. Brit. VI. 610 Make that hoop, and split, roll, or rush the ball placed there to help to hoop second back.
5. In various phrases:
a. split me (or split my windpipe), used as an imprecation.
1700T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. viii. Wks. 1709 III. i. 72 A Bully of the Blade came strutting up,..crying out, Split my Wind-pipe, Sir, you are a Fool. 1701Cibber Love makes Man ii. ii, I never fenc'd so ill in all my Life—never in my Life, split me! 1811Sporting Mag. XXXVII. 10 Split me if ever I sell it for less. 1840Thackeray Catherine ix, I had you here to amuse me—split me!
b. to split a hair or split hairs, split straws, split words, to make fine or subtle distinctions, esp. in argument or controversy; to be over-subtle or captious.
(a)1674Boyle Excell. Theol. Pref. 10 The great difficulty..so to behave oneself, as to split a hair between them, and never offend either of them. 1691tr. Emiliane's Observ. Journ. Naples 55 Shewing himself very inventive and dexterous at splitting a Hair in his way of handling Scholastick matters. 1742[see hair n. 8 j]. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 23 Though we are obliged sometimes to split the hair we need not quarter it. 1780M. Madan Thelyphthora II. 4 They splitted the hair..by condemning those who say ‘the church may err in teaching otherwise’. 1809Malkin Gil Blas ii. v. ⁋5 They would not split a hair about the loss of a wife or two. 1866Bright Sp., Reform 13 Mar. (1876) 346 It never entered into my mind the Government would split hairs in this fashion.
(b)1845Disraeli Sybil v. iii, I am no changeling, nor can I refine and split straws, like your philosophers. 1905E. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 225 He does not split straws, or bandy words.
(c)1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) II. 286 Why will you continue splitting words?
c. to split the difference, to halve an amount in dispute between two parties; to take the mean between two sums or quantities; to compromise on this basis. Also fig. (Cf. difference 2 d.)
1715M. Davies Athen. Brit. I. Pref. 28 The Arian Pamphlets are not half so diverting as the Popish Libels; tho' as to their Idolatry, the difference may be split. 1771Ann. Reg., Chron. 145/1 The disagreement..is now amicably settled, by the splitting the difference between his surveyor's estimate and that taken by the surveyor for the executors. 1855Poultry Chron. III. 66/2 As {pstlg}7 had been named [in place of {pstlg}13], perhaps if they ‘split’ the difference, and said {pstlg}10, that would settle the matter. [1893Daily News 13 Mar. 2/7 They refuse to ‘split’ the half-crown per ton which represented the difference between buyer and seller.]
d. Naut. (See quot.)
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 644 Splitting the books, the making of a new complete-book after payment, in which the dead, run, or discharged men are omitted; but the numbers..against the men's names..must be continued.
e. to split one's (or the) ticket or ballot: to vote for candidates of more than one party in an election. Also ellipt. U.S.
1842Spirit of Times (Philadelphia) 14 July 2/1 The cry is raised of ‘Vote the whole ticket! Don't split your ticket!’ 1848J. J. Hooper Widow Rugby's Husb. (1851) 23 Never split in my life. 1905N.Y. Even. Post 17 Oct. 1 Plenty of talk is heard about intentions to split ballots. 1946Chicago Daily News 20 Nov. 18/5 Democrats..decided the country did need a change, and split their ticket. 1975R. Stout Family Affair (1976) xiii. 141 He asked if I had split the ticket, and I said yes, I had voted for Carey but not for Clark. 1980Times 8 Oct. 8/4 To persuade electors to ‘split the ticket’—to vote for a Republican President and for a Democratic senator.
f. to split the atom, to cause atomic nuclei to undergo fission. Also fig.
1909Busy Man's Mag. Oct. 44/2 He [sc. Professor J. J. Thomson] is known both as ‘The Man of Ion’, and as the man ‘who split the atom’. 1930Sayers & ‘Eustace’ Documents in Case ii. 262 If anyone goes quietly away into a corner to experiment with high-voltage electric currents, they start a lot of ill-informed rubbish about splitting the atom. 1932Discovery Mar. 69/2 The problem of splitting the atom is briefly this: given..that at the centre of every atom there is a minute nucleus whose electrical charge fixes the elementary nature of the atom, can we by any agency detach a part of this charge? 1935J. Guthrie Little Country xxi. 335 With the blast of his cornet, Archibald Packer had split the Temmian atom. 1964M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy 1939–1945 18 They bombarded a foil of the metal lithium, disrupting the lithium nuclei which, after combining with incident protons, split into two alpha particles. The experimenters had ‘split’ atoms by artificial means. 1981Daily Tel. 24 Sept. 16/4 The first scientists to work on ‘splitting the atom’.
6. slang. To disclose, reveal, let out. (Cf. 13.)
1850Thackeray Pendennis xliii, Did I split anything? 1902Munsey's Mag. XXVI. 501/1 We can't have him splitting that Mr. Lemp's in the wood.
7. slang (orig. U.S.). To depart from, to leave. Freq. in phr. to split the scene: cf. scene 8 e.
1956O. Duke Sideman iii. vii. 272 Naw, man—I split that scene. 1963Freedomways III. 522 Evil Indians sink feathered arrows into the good guys, who kicked a couple of times and then split the scene. 1968Busby & Holtham Main Line Kill vi. 66 Where you bin? We thought you split the scene without giving us the word. 1971Sunday Sun (Brisbane) 26 Sept. 3/3 When he split the Brisbane scene he left behind documents that could be incriminating to the drug gangsters. 1973Black Panther 27 Oct. 17/2 We'll be splitting this place soon and once the book is written we won't have to come back. 1978S. Wilson Dealer's Move i. 12 He and Miranda split Scotland for good and came down to London.
II. intr.
†8. As predicate to all: To go to pieces. Obs.
1590Greene Never too Late (1600) 47 With that he set downe his period with such a sigh, that as the Marriners say, a man would haue thought all would haue split again. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. i. ii. 32. 1610 Beaum. & Fl. Scornf. Lady ii. iii, Two roaring Boys of Rome, that made all split. 1611Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl iv. ii, If I sail not with you both till all split, hang me up at the mainyard.
9. Of a ship: To part or break by striking on a rock or shoal, or by the violence of a storm.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. iv. 10 Whiles..the Ship splits on the Rock, Which Industrie and Courage might haue sau'd. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 730 Their Admirall here splitteth on a Rocke, but the men are saved by the helpe of the other shippes. 1645Harwood Loyal Subj. Retiring-room 15 A wise Pilot will not run his ship wilfully on a rock, but if a tempest drive it, he will shew his skill and courage to save it from splitting. 1718Ozell tr. Tournefort's Voy. I. 112 This is the most dangerous Rock to split upon, in all the Archipelago. 1735Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Voy. iv. 24 These [ships] are the more convenient, because they will not Split, if thrown upon Banks, or against Rocks. 1820Shelley Vision Sea 26 The great ship seems splitting! it cracks as a tree.
b. Of persons: To suffer shipwreck in this manner. Freq. in fig. context and fig.
1610Shakes. Temp. i. i. 65 Mercy on vs. We split, we split. 1657Benlowes Wisdom i. (1905) 474 While sinners split on shelves, saints to Heav'n's harbour steer. 1678Dryden All for Love Pref., And this is the rock on which they are daily splitting. 1726Swift Gulliver i. i, The wind was so strong, that we were driven directly upon it, and immediately split. 1754Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. 113 There is no Danger of their splitting upon these insuperable Difficulties. 1764G. Psalmanazar Mem. 283, I know but too well how many excellent critics had already split upon that fatal rock.
10. To part asunder, to burst, to form a fissure or fissures, esp. in a longitudinal direction.
a1625Nomencl. Nav. (Harl. MS. 2301) s.v., When Sheeuers breake wee say they split. a1661Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 110 The oak..may be called cowardly, as riving and splitting round about the passage of the bullet. a1728Woodward Fossils i. 17 All the Stone that is Slaty..will split only lengthways or horizontally. 1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 831 Veil splitting at the side. 1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. i. 40 When the rocks split and close again behind. 1855Orr's Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat. 173 The clay..assumes a tendency to split in certain directions much more readily than in others. 1882Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 806 It is evident that before the bark splits..the transverse tension must attain a certain intensity.
b. Used hyperbolically to denote the effect of excessive laughter, pain, or repletion.
(a)1677Miége Fr. Dict. ii, To split with laughter. 1693Dryden Juv. (1697) 333 Shou'd such a Fight appear to view, All Men wou'd split, the Sight wou'd please whilst new. 1729Swift Grand Quest. 175 Madam, I laugh'd till I thought I should split. 1840Thackeray Barber Cox Feb., One or two men, who roared with laughter ready to split. 1862J. Meredith Old Chartist ix, I'm nearly splitting.
(b)1722–7Boyer Dict. Royal i. s.v. Fendre, My Head is ready to split in two, I have a violent Head-ake. 1756M. Calderwood in Coltness Coll. (Maitl. Club) 194 By the time we arrived, my head was like to split with perfect fear. 1849Cupples Green Hand xvii. (1856) 168, I lay on my back,..my head aching like to split.
(c)1771Goldsm. Haunch of Venison 104 ‘A pasty!’ re-echo'd the Scot; ‘Tho' splitting, I'll still keep a corner for that’. 1783Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ode to R.A.'s Wks. 1812 I. 49 The Poet might have guttled till he split.
c. To admit of being cleft.
1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 169 The wood splits clean and easy, and is best adapted for split-paling and laths.
11. To part, divide, or separate in some way.
1712Addison Spect. No. 415 ⁋10 As in such Bodies the Sight must split upon several Angles, it does not take in one uniform Idea. 1856Stanley Sinai & Pal. ii. (1858) 111 The..river, which rises at the point where Hermon splits into its two parallel ranges. 1862Miller Elem. Chem., Org. (ed. 2) 94 If boiled for some hours with hydrochloric acid glycyrrhizin splits into a brownish resin and glucose. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 956 There is an element of caprice in murmurs, which may rise, fall, split, or perhaps vanish for a time.
b. To break up into separate groups or parties.
1824Scott Redgauntlet ch. xii, The land-sharks were on them,..and so they were obliged to split and squander. 1871L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. (1894) v. 137 We somehow contrived to split into three parties. 1871M. Legrand Cambr. Freshm. 299 This ceremony over, the party split of its own accord into two sections.
c. U.S. Sports. To draw, to tie; spec. in Baseball, to win one game of a double-header, or to win half of the games in a series. Also trans.
1975Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer 31 Mar. 1-d/5 If Houston loses both of its remaining games and the Cavs split, the Cavs..have a better record against other division teams than Houston does. 1979Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 20 Sept. 10d/1 He split two decisions this season in hookups with Gaylord Perry.
12. To break up into factions, sects, or similar divisions; to separate through disagreement or difference of opinion; to fall out or disagree.
1730T. Boston Mem. ix. 264 The parties were at the very point of splitting. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §29 What or where is the profession of men, who never split into schisms? 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 379 He had not the power of keeping the princes of the empire together;..on the contrary, every thing about him split into parties. 1890W. A. Wallace Only a Sister? 120 ‘Well, don't let us split on a small point of detail,’ he began.
b. slang. To break or quarrel with a person.
1835James Gipsy xi, I don't want to split with Pharold. 1859Slang Dict. 99 To split with a person, to cease acquaintanceship, to quarrel.
c. slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.). Of a couple: to become divorced; to separate.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §360/2 Divorce{ddd}split. 1951E. Coxhead One Green Bottle x. 267 ‘Why did Chris go off early? Is anything wrong?’ ‘We've split,’ Cathy answered. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 14 Aug. 1/4 They had to split. If they don't love each other, what else can they do? 1978Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 19a/2 The [divorce] suit ended months of speculation that the TV sportscaster and film producer were splitting. 1982‘J. Gash’ Firefly Gadroon i. 13 Women are always unreasonable... We split after a terrible fight.
13. slang. To turn evidence or informer; to peach; to give information detrimental to others; to betray confidence.
1795Potter Dict. Cant (ed. 2), Split, turning evidence. 1824Compl. Hist. Murder Mr. Weare 242 Such was the intense anxiety of some parties..to hear whether Thurtell had split. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop lxvi, If anybody is to split, I had better be the person. 1876Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly xvi, Janet would not split even when she was dying. And then there was very little to split about when she died.
b. Const. on or upon (a person).
1812in J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. 1838Dickens O. Twist xxv, I might have got clear off, if I'd split upon her. 1875‘A. R. Hope’ My Schoolboy Fr. 78 Of course you won't split on us. 1891V. L. Cameron Log Jack Tar 208 When he investigated the matter some among them split upon the ringleaders.
c. Const. about (a matter).
1836Ann. Reg., Chron. 23 Feb. 34/1, I will split about the murder, and get you scragged. 1876[see 12].
14. colloq. To run, walk, etc., at great speed.
1790R. Tyler Contrast ii. ii. (1887) 39, I was glad to take to my heels and split home, right off. 1848in Bartlett Dict. Amer. 324. 1868 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 361 The spectacle of our splitting up the fashionable avenue..excited the greatest amazement. 1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 30 Over him she [sc. the mare] goes, and down the hill as hard as she can split.
b. To do anything with great vigour.
a1848Maj. Jones's Courtship (Bartlett), I set the niggers a drummin' and fifin' as hard as they could split.
15. slang (orig. U.S.). To depart, to take one's leave.
1954Time 8 Nov. 42 Split,..depart. 1956O. Duke Sideman iii. ix. 294 But that's why the cat split. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) iii. 38, I grabbed him and told him to do something because I had to split for the bathroom again. 1962Radio Times 17 May 43 After the gig, dad, let's split to your pad for some suds. 1967W. Murray Sweet Ride viii. 128 Since nobody asked you over, why don't you just split so we can finish our lunch? 1977Sounds 1 Jan. 21/4 In the main hall Roger Scott from London's Capital Radio arrived, took one look at the wasteland and split.
III. 16. With advs., as away, down, off, out, up: a. In transitive senses. With out: also slang (now Obs. or rare), to separate or disentangle from another.
1648Hexham ii, Opsplijten, to Split up, or to Rive open. a1735M. Clerk in Dict. Nat. Biogr. (1887) XI. 44/1 He only cut off a chiel's lug, and he ought to ha' split doun his heid. 1799[A. Young] View Agric. Lincoln. 72 A wheel plough..for crossing broad high lands at an equal pitch; which is liked better..than either gathering up, or splitting down. 1807Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) ii. App. 25 We cut down a small green cotton-wood tree, and with much labor split out a canoe. 1846A. Young Naut. Dict. 291 Splitting out blocks, a process sometimes resorted to when it is necessary to remove the blocks on which a vessel rests on a slip or in a dock [etc.]. 1855Orr's Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat. 39 These, which are often of vast dimensions, are split off from the peaks of the higher mountains. 1883Manch. Guard. 22 Oct. 5/2 To split up Manchester into half a dozen distinct constituencies. 1924G. C. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 419 Splitting out, separating pickpocket from his victim in case of trouble. The stall splits out the wire. 1931Collier's 16 May 66/2 Everybody else is busy trying to split out Regret and the bloodhounds.
b. In intransitive senses. With out: also slang, to quarrel; to part company; to take one's leave (cf. sense 15 above). With up: also colloq., to break up a relationship (esp. of a couple); spec. to become divorced.
1843Penny Cycl. XXV. 204/2 The outer layer of which splits up into star-like expanding rays. 1850G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 84 Split out, no longer friends; quarrelled; dissolved partnership. 1852C. M. Yonge Cameos I. i. 4 Soon the kingdom of France split away from the Empire. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. vii, Sam..dexterously contriving to tickle Andy.., which occasioned Andy to split out into a laugh. 1865Kingsley Herew. i, A Roman camp, guarding the King Street, or Roman road, which splits off from the Ermine Street. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I. 160 The Empire did not at once split up into national kingdoms. 1879Macmillan's Mag. Oct. 505/2 There is a reeler over there which knows me, we had better split out. 1903G. H. Lorimer Lett. from Self-Made Merchant to his Son viii. 104 He and his father split up, temporarily, over it, and, of course, it cost me the old man's trade and friendship. 1927J. Black You can't Win x. 132 ‘Where are you going, kid?’..‘If you are going to split out, I'll go to San Francisco for a while.’ 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §360/2 Divorce{ddd}split up. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xxii. 176 Even if I could have split out I'd have been in a snowstorm of lawsuits. 1959‘E. Peters’ Death Mask i. 15 When we split up..I felt it was all my fault. I had to be free of him. 1976M. Machlin Pipeline xlvii. 491 You just split out like a streak of blue lightning, without saying nothing to nobody. 1976W. Corlett Dark Side of Moon i. i. 29 ‘He thought his parents were..splitting up?’ ‘Divorce?.. he thought it was on the cards.’
Sense 4 f in Dict. becomes 4 g. Add: [I.] [4.] f. Cards. In Pontoon, Poker, etc.: to divide (a pair dealt as the opening cards of a hand) to form two new hands. Also absol. orig. U.S.
1866W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle (rev. ed.) 516 A (the dealer) drew two eights, splitting and drew to both. 1889N. Y. Clipper 26 Oct. 554/1 You had a perfect right to split your openers and draw for a flush. 1930B. Dalton Round Games with Cards 63 Should any player receive a pair..he may ‘split’, and bet on each card. 1963G. F. Hervey Handbk. Card Games 285 If a punter holds a pair.., he may announce his intention to split... The banker, if he holds a pair, may also split. 1981G. Brandreth Everyman's Indoor Games 106 An additional rule sometimes encountered is that when a punter is dealt a pair as his first two cards (e.g. two queens) he may ‘split’ the hand to form two separate hands.
h. Comm. To divide (a stock) into two or more stocks of the same total value; also const. up. Cf. split-up s.v. split-. Chiefly U.S.
1927N.Y. Times 13 July 32/2 Two plans are said to be under consideration. One is to split the stock on a two-for-one basis, and the other contemplates a three-for-one split-up. 1932B. F. Winkelman Ten Yrs. Wall St. xviii. 172 Denial was forthcoming in reference to the rumor that the stock would be split up. 1957G. L. Leffler Stock Market (ed. 2) xxxi. 511 One of the most certain stimulants to the market price of a stock is an announcement that the directors intend to split the stock. 1966R. P. Kent Corporate Financial Managem. xx. 483 The decision of a corporation whose common stock is selling at $150 to split it up 5 or 1 would appear to be fully in harmony with prevailing thinking. 1982Financial Times 2 July ii. 16/1 The directors..are proposing..a cash capital repayment of 15p per share..; splitting the existing 25p ordinary shares into new shares of 10p; and the introduction of employee share option schemes.
[II.] [11.] d. Comm. Of stocks: to be divided into two or more stocks of the same total value. U.S.
1967N.Y. Times (Internat. Ed.) 11 Feb. 9/6 When a stock splits, the number of shares held could double or triple and, in some instances, though not all the price advances after such a split. 1978J. Hyams Pool xii. 196 The stock had split three times. 1987Fortune 17 Aug. 104/2 The weaker dollar and stronger copper prices boosted MIM Holdings, and the Australian mining company. Both his Hong Kong stocks split.
▪ IV. split, ppl. a.|splɪt|
[f. split v.]
1. a. That has undergone the process of splitting; divided in this manner; riven, cleft.
1648Hexham, Gespleten klauwen, Split or Cloven Clawes. 1673Hickeringill Greg. Father Greyb. 314 Wry faces, mops, mows, split jaws. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. x. 241 A large split bamboe..as a trough. 1825Jennings Obs. Dial. W. Eng. 71 Spars..are commonly made of split willow rods. 1849Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 379 To insulate the wire from the hook, a split quill is slipped over the wire, on which it rests. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 468 Tender nodosities or nodes on the shins, from a pea to a split walnut in size.
b. Of a surface: Exposed by splitting.
1715Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 8 River-pebbles split in the middle,..laid with the split-side outwards. 1837P. Keith Bot. Lex. 121 If a thin slice of one of them is taken from the split surface of the trunk of an Oak or Elm. 1851–4Tomlinson Cycl. Arts & Manuf. (1867) II. 34 As the hide is split, one half, which is the split flesh side, passes over the knife; the other half, or the split grain side, continues to adhere to the drum. 1891Malden Tillage 106 It is not uncommon to throw the split-furrows on to the unploughed land, so that the ridges are not too high.
c. Bot. (See quot.)
1832Lindley Introd. Bot. 388 Split (fissus); divided nearly to the base into a determinate number of segments.
2. In various special collocations:
a. In designations of apparatus, implements, parts of machinery, or similar objects, as split bandage, split cane, split chuck, split-ring, etc.; split bearing (Mech.), a bearing for a shaft in which the housing and bush are each split laterally into two parts for ease of assembly; split flap (Aeronaut.), a flap occupying only the lower part of the wing thickness.
1846F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 202 The soft parts being divided, the utility of a *split bandage in keeping them back is generally allowed.
1902R. Grimshaw Mod. Workshop Hints xiv. 268 (heading) Filling *split bearings with babbitt. 1973O. S. Nock Gresley Pacifics I. vii. 91/2 The inside big end..necessarily had split bearings.
1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 217 The *split bolster is employed for cutting out long rectangular holes or mortices.
1890L. D'Oyle Notches 143 Taking my rod (a light *split-cane) in his hands, he shook it—and grinned. 1892Photogr. Ann. II. 385 A stand upon the split cane principle. When the ring and bottom fittings are removed, the stick opens out into three pieces.
1830Mechanic's Mag. XIII. 50, I call it the *split-chuck, for want of a more appropriate name. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 237 Split chucks were made here many years ago.
1849Craig, In Surgery, *split-cloth, a bandage for the head, consisting of a central part, and six or eight tails.
1929Techn. Notes U.S. Nat. Advisory Comm. Aeronaut. No. 324. 1 It is known that..a suction exists between the parts of a *split flap located at the trailing edge. 1968Miller & Sawers Technical Devel. Mod. Aviation iii. 84 The adoption of retractable undercarriages, which increased drag when they were lowered for landing, made it less important to use flaps which increased drag as greatly as the split flap.
1882Southward Pract. Printing (1884) 6 Certain fractions are cast in one piece... If other fractions are needed, they require to be made up with small types, called *split fractions.
1878Barlow Weaving 168 The second [contrivance] is generally used in weaving the richest silks.., and is termed the *split harness.
1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 221 The two parts are previously prepared either to the form of the tongue or *split joint.
1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. H 4, A leading screw working in a *split nut beneath the slide rest.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2281/2 *Split-pin, a pin or cotter with a head at one end and a split at the other. 1879Man. Artill. Exerc. 171 Take out split-pin and unscrew steel pivot out of metal plate.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 237 Separate *split plugs for different sized objects are provided.
1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 129 *Split rigger, riggers made in two equal portions and screwed together in order to facilitate shifting or changing.
1853C. M. Yonge Heir of Redclyffe II. xxi. 340 It was locked, but the key was on her own *split-ring. 1858Greener Gunnery 316 A novel safety guard;..swivel double like a split ring. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2281/2 A split-ring has an opening by which keys may be introduced to be strung upon it.
b. In miscellaneous uses, as split brilliant, split crow, split eagle, split-face, split leather, split pea(se, split skirt, split stitch, etc.; split baluster (see quot. 1969); split end (Amer. and Canad. Football), an end (end n. 3 g) positioned at some distance from the rest of the formation; split falls (see quot. 1960); split graft (Med.) = split-skin graft, sense 5 a below; split jump (Figure-skating), a jump during which the legs are momentarily kicked out into the splits position; split pea, rhyming slang for ‘tea’ (obs.); cf. Rosy Lee; split shot, split stroke (Croquet) = split n.1 9; split-turn, a sharp turn.
1904P. Macquoid Hist. Eng. Furnit. ix. 228 The *split baluster ornament..has been variously named split baluser, cannon, or mace decoration. 1934Burlington Mag. Sept. 125/1 An extensive use of relief decoration in the form of turned ‘split balusters’ is also rather characteristic of many of these pieces. 1969J. Gloag Short Dict. Furnit. 635 Split baluster, a turned baluster split centrally, and applied ornamentally to a surface.
1850Holtzapffel Turning III. 1332 The *split brilliant..only differs from the full brilliant..in the foundation squares being divided horizontally into two triangular facets.
1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., *Split crow, the sign of the spread eagle.
1889F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 224 The sign of the church might well have been the spread or *split eagle.
1955C. V. Mather Winning High School Football vii. 187 (caption) The halfback splits half the distance with the *split end. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 10 July 27/5 Adkins will be the split end with underrated Jay Roberts, a tough blocker, remaining at tight end. 1977New Yorker 10 Oct. 177/2 Using only two backs..and sending four split ends..downfield, Restic had Harvard throw fifty-seven passes that afternoon, thirty-one of them valid.
1923D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 182 And white teeth showing in your dragon-grin as you race, you *split-face.
1939Country Life 11 Feb. p. xxxiii/1 (Advt.), Made in Cavalry Twills..Sheppards Checks, *Split falls or fly front. 1960C. W. Cunnington et al. Dict. Eng. Costume 75/2 Falls, a buttoned flap to the front of breeches and..of pantaloons and trousers... ‘Small’ or ‘Split Falls’ was a narrow central flap.
1929Surg., Gynecol. & Obstetrics XLIX. 96/2 In lining a contractile cavity with a *split graft allowance should always be made for contraction. 1958New Biol. XXVII. 40 Split-grafts are prepared by enzyme digestion of the fibres joining the epidermis to the dermis, which frees the epidermis for use as the graft.
1961J. S. Salak Dict. Amer. Sports 416 *Split jump,..a variation of the jump from the back edge with the free toe assisting. 1968Split jump [see layback 2 b].
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2281/2 *Split-leather is an inferior article, and is used for light boots and shoes [etc.].
1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., *Split-lift, a narrow strip of leather split in two, which forms the lift, or seat of a shoe.
1846Lindley Veg. Kingd. 63 Andræaceæ. —*Splitmosses.
1846*Split-paling [see split v. 9 c].
1736Bailey Household Dict. s.v. Pease, The *split pease do not need it. 1806A. Hunter Culina (ed. 3) 39 One pint of split pease. 1857‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 20 Split-Pea, tea. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Split-pease, husked peas, split for making pease-soup or pease-puddings. 1894A. Robertson Nuggets, etc. 191 He was as like Pat Kineen..as two split peas are like each other. 1931S. Kaye-Smith Hist. Susan Spray iii. 296 I'll make you a nice cup of split pea.
1975Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 218/2 When the balls travel in different directions the stroke is also known as a *split shot.
1976Scotsman 20 Nov. (Weekend Suppl.) 4/1 The look of clothes today suggests country more than town... Capes and ponchos, loose knits and *split skirts, are more at home on town birds than country cousins.
1814W. Brown Hist. Propag. Chr. (1823) I. 620 note, The name of *split-snake..we considered as descriptive not so much of its split appearance as of the singular sensation occasioned by its bite.
1880L. Higgin Handbk. Embroidery iii. 22 *Split Stitch is worked like ordinary ‘stem’, except that the needle is always brought up through the crewel or silk, which it splits. 1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlew. 194/2 Split stitch, a stitch much used in ancient Church Embroidery..to work the faces and hands of figures.
1897Encycl. Sport I. 254/1 *Split stroke, taking croquet so as to drive the balls on courses nearly at right angles to one another.
1852L. A. Meredith My Home in Tasmania I. 159 ‘*Split stuff,’ by which is meant timber..split into ‘posts and rails’, slabs, or paling. 1852Mundy Antipodes (1857) 29 A mile or so of road lined with pretty cottages—pretty although formed only of ‘split stuff’.
1882Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 223 Pogonichthys macrolepidotus, *Split-tail.
1887J. G. Frazer Totemism 10 A remarkable feature of some of these Oraon totems is, that they are not whole animals, but parts of animals... Such totems may be distinguished as *split totems.
1932W. Faulkner Sartoris iii. 252 The damn thing zoomed past and did a *split-turn and came back at me again.
1898Year-bk. U.S. Dept. Agric. 122 Another new insect..is the so-called tobacco leaf-miner, or ‘*split worm’.
c. Phr. to keep on a split yarn and varr.: to keep in a state of alert. Naut. slang.
1929Papers Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts & Lett. X. 298/2 Having everything on a split yarn, ready to start at once. 1958W. King Stick & Stars 73 All submariners had to be kept on a split yarn in case England was invaded.
3. a. Separated, divided, parted, or apportioned in some way. In special collocations, as split draught, split duty, etc.; split beam, a beam (of radiation, etc.) that has been split into two or more components, spec. as used in a radar technique in which a single aerial transmits alternately two beams slightly displaced from each other in order accurately to obtain the direction of a target; freq. attrib.; split beaver (slang) (see quots.); split decision (Boxing), a decision made on points in which the judges and referee are not unanimous in their choice of a winner; split entrance, split entry adj. (N. Amer.), designating a house in which the entrance is half-way between the levels of the two floors; also absol. as n.; cf. split-level a.; split-field = next; usu. attrib.; split-image, (a) an image in a rangefinder or focusing system that has been bisected by optical means, the halves of which are displaced when the system is out of focus, used esp. in various types of camera; usu. attrib.; (b) = splitting image s.v. splitting ppl. a. 5; split instant, split minute, split moment, an extremely small space of time; cf. split-second a. and n.; split page (U.S. Journalism) (see quot. 1970); split-phase (Electr.), used attrib. with reference to devices, esp. induction motors, that utilize two or more voltages at different phases produced from a single-phase supply; also transf.; split rail (orig. U.S.), a fence rail split from a log; freq. attrib., as split-rail fence; split run, a press run of a newspaper in which some portions contain certain copy, advertisements, etc., not carried by other portions; split screen (Cinemat., Television, and Computing), a screen on which are projected simultaneously two or more images; split shift, (a) a working shift split into two or more periods separated by an interval or intervals of several hours; (b) a shift overlapping the times of two other shifts; split ticket (see quots.); split trial (U.S. Law), a trial conducted in two stages of which the first will establish facts necessary to the impartial or swift conducting of the second; split week, (a) Theatr. (see quot. 1948); (b) a working week in which days off occur other than at the weekend.
1947Crowther & Whiddington Science at War 25 This ‘*split-beam’ method of direction-finding gives very accurate results. 1966D. Taylor Radar ii. 24 Special stations..with facilities for ‘split-beam’ d.f. [sc. direction finding] were provided for accurate tracking of ships and fire-control purposes. 1966[see spectrophotometer]. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War xlii. 397 The method was to set a Freya station on the coast of France so that its split-beam pointed over the target in London.
1972New Society 7 Dec. 591/1 The business has evolved its own jargon; full frontals are ‘beavers’, becoming ‘*split-beavers’ if the legs are parted. 1976Lieberman & Rhodes Compl. CB Handbk. vi. 137 Split beaver, stripper. 1977E. J. Trimmer et al. Visual Dict. Sex (1978) xxiv. 270 In the further stages of frankness ‘beaver’ and ‘split beaver’ shots show the hairy vulva. 1978J. Irving World according to Garp xiii. 241 Pictures of naked women... If you could see the sex parts..that was a beaver... If the parts were open, that was called a split beaver.
1970Times 28 Sept. 13/4 Buchanan, the British lightweight champion, gained a 15 round *split points decision over Ismael Laguna of Panama. 1976Daily Times (Lagos) 8 Oct. 30/3 The 29-year-old Panther..then said he had already petitioned the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control over the decision which gave Billy Savage the title by a split decision on September 24.
1871Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 530 The other flues may be arranged either as a wheel-draught or a *split-draught. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2281/2 Split-draft, (Furnace,) in steam-boilers, when the current of smoke and hot air is divided into two or more flues.
1895Daily News 25 June 6/3 *Split duty, dividing the day's work into two or more portions, had been a sore point among the London sorters for many years.
1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 31/2 (Advt.), Beautiful *split entrance bungalow.
1967Boston Sunday Globe 23 Apr. b42/5 (Advt.), Keep that city job and enjoy country living in these unusually attractive *split entry ranches. 1976Laurel (Montana) Outlook 23 June 19/1 (Advt.), You will never regret buying this new 4 bdrm split entry.
1941Amateur Photographer's Handbk. (ed. 2) vi. 121 Some people find this *split-field type of range finder difficult to use. 1976C. Reynolds Photoguide to Filters 156 One special accessory is the split-field lens.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 327 Whenever the metal is run off by the tap-hole into the two basins,..called *Split-Hearths.
1950R. A. McCoy Pract. Photogr. ii. 15 To operate the *split image type [of rangefinder] it is necessary to look through the finder and observe that the image seems to be broken in the center and offset. 1960Focal Encycl. Photogr. (rev. ed.) 946/2 The parallax effect appears as a split image which joins up across a dividing line when the lens is set to maximum sharpness. 1977J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 15 As a focusing aid a ‘split image’ or focusing screen rangefinder may be sunk into the center of the underside of the screen. 1981‘M. Innes’ Lord Mullion's Secret 179 He was by a strange freak of heredity the split image of one commemorated by Nicholas Hilliard some centuries ago.
1936M. Mitchell Gone with Wind xx. 348 ‘Rain,’ she thought... But, in a *split instant: ‘Rain? No!... Cannon!’
1839H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornw., etc. x. 308 Some good examples of *split lodes are to be seen in the Marazion and Breague districts.
1931W. G. Carr By Guess & by God 27 Using his one periscope for *split-minute looks. 1957I. Asimov Naked Sun ii. 31 For one fleeting *split moment he bent his head back and stared directly at Solaria's sun.
1953B. Westley News Editing 419/1 *Split page, same as ‘second front page’. 1957J. Steinbeck Pippin IV 58 Colour photographs filled the split-page of every newspaper. 1970R. K. Kent Lang. Journalism 26 Split page, the front page of a newspaper's second section; second front page.
1895S. P. Thompson Polyphase Electric Currents ix. 175 This is a form of *split-phase motor having two or more sets of coils placed at different angles. 1921W. S. Ibbetson Motor & Dynamo Control vi. 174 This split-phase winding has a very high resistance and induction, so that the current in it lays nearly 90° behind that in the running coils. 1953Pedestrian Summer 26 Sometimes the policeman is operating what is known as a split phase; pedestrians may cross half the road in front of halted traffic and not realize that the traffic on the other half has the right of way. 1976C. G. Grolle Compl. Guide Electr. Repairs viii. 120 All split-phase motors have a centrifugal switch that drops out the contacts on the start winding after full speed is attained.
1826T. Flint Recollections of Last Ten Years 206 Scarcely has a family fixed itself, and enclosed a plantation with the universal fence,—*split rails [etc.]. 1897Essex Antiq. (Salem, Mass.) Feb. 27/2 The split-rail fence is also old. Logs, generally of ash, about nine feet in length, and a foot or more in diameter, split the entire length into about sixteen equal parts, formed the rails, which were chamfered at each end. Of such split sections posts were also made, having holes cut in them in the proper places to receive the ends of the rails. 1934Bulletin (Sydney) 14 Feb. 30/2 A new post or a new set of rails has to be put in a split-rail fence. 1976Scott & Koski Walk-In (1977) xxx. 216 A weathered split-rail fence..announced the boundary.
1961Webster, *Split run. 1963D. Ogilvy Confessions Advert. Man (1964) vi. 110 In split-run tests, long copy invariably outsells short copy. 1977D. Grossman Samson Management Lexicon ii. 19 Split-run copy testing. 1979Austral. Financial Rev. 15 Aug. 22/6 The commission's investigations cover practices known in some sectors of the trade as ‘split runs’ and ‘blowing’. A split run involves several print runs of the same editorial content, but with different advertising content.
1953R. Bretz Techniques Television Production xi. 206 In the case of the phone conversation the *split screen might appear in a direct cut after a single shot of the person making the call. 1958Times 20 Jan. 3/2 Attempts to quicken the action [of a film] by a split screen device fail lamentably in their object. 1970W. Wager Sledgehammer (1971) xv. 91 As if in some film..Williston's neatly typed dossiers..jumped into focus... Actually they appeared side by side in a split-screen effect, hung there for a long moment and vanished. 1977Time 26 Sept. 42/2 Alvy and Annie, on a split screen, talking to their shrinks about the frequency with which they have sex.
1955M. Reifer Dict. New Words 196/1 *Split shift,..a work schedule or shift in which there is a break in the working hours. 1960Guardian 30 June 10/4 Split shifts (e.g. 4–9 a.m. and 5–8 p.m.) and split days off. 1964G. L. Cohen What's Wrong with Hospitals? ii. 39 Wards operating a three-shift system, instead of the generally abhorred ‘split shift’ which gave nurses a useless afternoon break. 1970F. McKenna Gloss. Railwaymen's Talk p. v, The footplate crew has an even worse cycle—what is called the ‘split shift’ system. 1978Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. f5/3 (Advt.), We have psychiatric nursing positions available on all shifts. No split shifts.
1876Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly iv. 32 The twins were taking their third *split soda—it was brotherly to divide a bottle.
1836J. Hoyt Let. 21 Nov. in W. L. Mackenzie Life M. Van Buren (1846) 262, I was reproached by you for having voted a ‘*split ticket’. 1848Bartlett Dict. Amer. 410 It sometimes happens..that individuals..erase one or more of the names and substitute others more to their liking. This is called a split-ticket [1859 also a scratch ticket]. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 270 At times the party itself is divided into fractions,..and the result of such a split in their own ranks, is a split ticket. 1964Economist 31 Oct. 482/2 A ‘split-ticket’ group..to urge voters to support Mr Johnson and Mr Keating, the Republican senatorial candidate.
1960Annals Amer. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. CCCXXVIII. 52/1 Of all the time-saving remedies, the *split trial should prove the most powerful. 1967North-Western Reporter 2nd. Ser. CL. 323/1 In that year [sc. 1878] secs. 4697–98–99, R.S. 1878, were enacted and provided a split trial in which the insanity issue was tried first and if the accused was found sane he was then tried on his plea of not guilty before the same jury.
1926*Split week [see ham n.1 5]. 1948H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. 691 Split week, a week on the road divided between two or more towns. 1974P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry ix. 81 Split weeks have also become fashionable instead of unvarying Saturday-to-Saturday weeks.
b. split infinitive: see infinitive n. 1.
c. fig. With reference to division or dissociation affecting a person's mental life or the self. In special collocations, as split consciousness, split man, split mind, split-mindedness, split personality; split-minded adj.
1958R. F. C. Hull tr. Jung's Undiscovered Self v. 74 The rupture between faith and knowledge is a symptom of the *split consciousness which is so characteristic of the mental disorder of the day.
1944H. Read Educ. Free Men x. 32 We divide the intelligence from the sensibility of our children, create *split-men (schizophrenics, to give them a psychological name), and then discover that we have no social unity. 1962M. McLuhan Gutenberg Galaxy 51 (heading) The Homeric hero becomes a split-man as he assumes an individual ego.
1938*Split mind [see schizoid a. a]. 1945Koestler Yogi & Commissar iii. i. 121 Typical examples of socially approved split-mind patterns are the Astronomer who believes both in his instruments and in Christian dogma [etc.].
a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1977) III. 372 The fact is that Jim is absolutely *split-minded. 1976Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXIV. 630/2, I must admit to being rather split-minded on this subject.
1947S. O'Faolain Irish i. 23 A delightful dualism—the moderns would call it *splitmindedness. 1963R. F. C. Hull tr. Jung's Mysterium Coniunctionis in Coll. Wks. XIV. iii. 248 The surprisingly common phenomenon of masculine split-mindedness, when the right hand mustn't know what the left is doing.
1919M. K. Bradby Psycho-Anal. x. 129 The *split personalities of hysterics and mediums..have a subjective meaning. 1931E. Wilson Axel's Castle ii. 40 A theory which makes one's poetic self figure as one of the halves of a split personality. 1966‘H. MacDiarmid’ Company I've Kept xiii. 259 In my view, he [sc. Walter Elliott] was a split personality. 1974Listener 31 Jan. 131/1 Every nation becomes a bundle of contradictions and paradoxes—practically a split personality.
4. a. With advs., as split-off, split-up.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xiv. 148 These split-off lines of ice were evidently in motion. 1880A. Giberne Sun, Moon, & Stars 294 The split-up rays tell us much more than the kinds of metals in different stars.
b. split-up, long-legged. slang.
1874Slang. Dict. 304 Split up, long in the legs. Among athletes, a man with good length of limb is said to be ‘well split up’. 1891Field 7 Mar. 334/3 The winner, Grand Fashion, is a leggy, split-up black, but decidedly the best mover of the lot.
5. a. In attrib. combs., as split-mouth sucker, split-oak railing, split-site comprehensive (school), split-site school, split-timber house. split-brain, used with reference to a person or animal whose corpus callosum has been severed or is lacking, so that there is no direct connection between the two halves of the brain; split-dose (Med.), applied to the technique of administering a given quantity of ionizing radiation in several exposures so as to reduce its harmful effects in relation to its therapeutic ones; split-half (Statistics), used attrib. with reference to the technique of splitting a body of supposedly homogeneous data into two halves and calculating the results separately from each to assess their reliability; also absol.; split-skin graft (Med.), a skin graft which involves only the superficial portion of the thickness of the skin; cf. split graft, sense 2 b above.
1958R. W. Sperry in Harlow & Woolsey Biol. & Biochem. Bases Behavior 418 In recent efforts to learn more about connectivity principles in perceptual integration, we have been putting to use the demonstrated functional independence of the two hemispheres in what we have come to call the ‘*split-brain’ preparation... In these split-brain animals one can leave intact a whole hemisphere to maintain generalized background function. 1968Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. xxiv. 94/2 At times, the non-dominant hand may ‘go off on its own’ and have to be restricted by the dominant hand. One begins to doubt whether a split brain man is singular or plural. But in no sense does he resemble a schizophrenic, in spite of the layman's interpretation of that word. 1972R. E. Ornstein Psychol. of Consciousness ii. 55 In day-to-day living, these ‘split-brain’ people exhibit almost no abnormality.
1947Radiology XLIX. 321/1 In this study the *split-dose technic was applied to recovery as tested by lethal effects. 1968Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 246/2 Young..has written a program to synthesize the results of split-dose experiments from survival curves at various phases of the cycle.
1935Psychol. Rev. XLII. 158 This conception of *split-half or comparable-form reliability as simply inter-item correlation can and should be brought into relationship with Kelley's concept or reliability as adequacy of sampling. 1946Jrnl. Educational Psychol. XXXVII. 473 Since any test may be split in a large number of ways, the split-half method of estimating test reliability fails to give a unique result. 1971Computers & Humanities V. 260 Because 0101 and 0410 had high internal reliability (split half), we did not cut, Xerox, and translate further samples from these books.
1882Jordan & Gilbert Syn. Fishes N. Amer. 144 Quassilabia lacera,..*Split-mouth Sucker.
1895Cornish Wild Eng. 121 The ordinary high *split-oak railing.
1972Guardian 8 Mar. 12/6 Since they are..formed from a merger of two or three existing schools, the *split-site comprehensive schools have some attraction for local educational authorities. 1973Times 11 Apr. 8/6 A minibus is used in one of our split-site comprehensives. 1975Times 30 Dec. 3/2 The survey of 18 split-site schools, most of them divided by one or two miles across cities and industrial roads, concludes that they are ‘the unfortunate by-products of imposing a comprehensive system too quickly’. 1981West Lancs. Evening Gaz. 11 Nov. 9/8 But in 24 of the 63 cases, the authority would have to create either a split-site school, or a school with more than 490 pupils.
1929Surg., Gynecol. & Obstetrics XLIX. 82 (heading) The use and uses of large *split skin grafts of intermediate thickness. 1977Proc. R. Soc. Med. LXX. 480/1 Excision and split-skin graft undertaken in 5 patients was successful in the 3 who were traced.
1827P. Cunningham N.S. Wales II. 170 In the *split-timber houses, a frame is first put up.
b. Comb., as split-eared, split-nosed, split-tongued adjs.
c1880Cassell's Nat. Nist. IV. 272 The sub-order Fissilingues, the Split-tongued Lizards. 1894Outing XXIV. 173/2, I hunted on many horses.., but never on a better than my shaggy, split-eared, one-eyed Whitey. 1900Westm. Gaz. 12 Mar. 7/1 An abundance of explosive soft-nosed and split-nosed ammunition.
Add:[3.] [a.] split time Sport = *split n.1 4 f.
1964J. K. Doherty Mod. Training for Running 189 This was 1.2 seconds slower than his best time of :22.0 for the 220 and gave him *split times of :23.2 and :24.2 for the 440, reasonably close to an even pace. 1989Los Angeles Times (Orange County ed.) 14 May iii. 16/4 Hundeby..recorded his best split time ever, 46.8 seconds.
[5.] c. Special collocation. split-finger(ed a. Baseball, designating a pitch thrown with the motion of a fastball, but with the index and middle fingers spread wide apart along the seams, so that it has little backspin and dips sharply and deceptively as it approaches the plate; freq. as split-finger(ed) fastball; cf. forkball s.v. *fork n. 16 a.
1980Boston Globe 1 May 57/3, I was just a fireballer until last spring when the late Freddie Martin who taught Sutter the *split-fingered fastball..taught me the change. 1986New Yorker 1 Sept. 86/1 Two pitches..bounced by Bob Brenly for passed balls in the three-run second (both split-finger specials, by the look of them). 1991Baseball Illustr. XXVII. 110/1 Charlton, a lefthander with a mean split-fingered fastball, started last summer as part of a bullpen troika that called itself The Nasty Boys because of their effect on NL hitters. |