splinternoun [ C ]
uk/ˈsplɪn.tər/us/ˈsplɪn.tɚ/a small, sharp, broken piece of wood, glass, plastic, or similar material:
The girl had a splinter (of wood) in her toe.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Words meaning small pieces and amounts
- by a nose idiom
- chip
- clipping
- crumb
- dollop
- droplet
- flake
- germ
- jot
- nose
- pat
- patch
- pennyworth
- pinpoint
- ray
- scattering
- scintilla
- shadow
- shard
- shred
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splinterverb [ I ]
uk/ˈsplɪn.tər/us/ˈsplɪn.t̬ɚ/to break into small, sharp pieces:
The edges of the plastic cover had cracked and splintered.
figurative The danger is that the Conservative Party may splinter into several smaller political parties.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Tearing and breaking into pieces
- apart
- asunder
- bobble
- break (sth) off
- breakage
- catch
- fall apart
- flake
- fragment
- fragmented
- fray
- frayed
- in ribbons idiom
- knacker
- pull sth apart
- rent
- rip
- shear
- split
- tear sth up
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