as in chip
a small flat piece separated from a whole
she got a splinter from the unfinished wall
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
2
as in to split
to cause (people) to break up into opposing groups
The board splintered as soon as the most contentious issues came up for discussion.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of splinter
Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
Splinter after splinter flopping onto the stone threshold, tsss, tsss, hissing like a nest of vipers.
—Zuzana Říhová, Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025
Evan Howell, Quanta Magazine, 20 Oct. 2025
Eventually, the Zizians splintered from the San Francisco rationalist community, accusing them of anti-transgender discrimination.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for splinter
Noun
Was a splinter by the size of your straws that caused it all.
—Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
Splinter after splinter flopping onto the stone threshold, tsss, tsss, hissing like a nest of vipers.
—Zuzana Říhová, Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
Pooling surface meltwater had forced open cracks — a process called hydrofracturing — which splintered the shelf, the only barrier for the glaciers behind it.
—Evan Howell, Quanta Magazine, 20 Oct. 2025
Eventually, the Zizians splintered from the San Francisco rationalist community, accusing them of anti-transgender discrimination.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for splinter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for splinter
Noun
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That new self-sufficiency has required significant investments in AI chips for the team to train its models, though Suleyman declined to comment on the size of the team’s GPU stash.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
6 Nov. 2025
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Salon and some at-home gel manicures require a UV or LED lamp to cure the polish, resulting in a longer-lasting, chip-resistant, and shinier finish.—
Melanie Fincher,
Southern Living,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Remove top and slice into pieces for dipping; set aside.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
6 Nov. 2025
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The pizza features new deli-style pepperoni, a three-cheese blend, and signature Italian seasoning, sliced into eight extra-extra-large pieces and delivered in the restaurant's largest box yet.—
Daniel Orton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Sometimes lightning hits the mountainside and splits or burns a tree.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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Jeanty, initially lined up in the right slot, motioned into the backfield, leaving Bowers and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers lined up to that side, with receivers Tyler Lockett and Tre Tucker split to the left.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Really, this is only a sliver of a joke.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
7 Nov. 2025
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About 1 foot from the shoot tip, make a 1 to 2 inch incision along the stem and through a bud to create a wedge; prop the wedge open with a sliver of wood such as a toothpick.—
Luke Miller,
Better Homes & Gardens,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Noise of trees crackling and sap hissing, branches thumping down, timber being dragged and chopped.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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Use a mulching mower to chop the leaves into tiny bits that can be left on the lawn to nourish the soil.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Qianlong took a page from the design of private gardens in southern China to make the layout more compact, and divided the site into four connected courtyards, two of which are currently open to the public, from south to north.—
Fred He,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
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Engineers divide conventional aircraft into three main lightning zones.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Additional circumstantial evidence included the presence of Halbach's license plate, which was found in another vehicle on Avery’s property, a bullet fragment that was found in his garage with her DNA and Halbach's remains, which were located in and around a burn pit.—
Nicole Briese,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
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The two showers are grouped together because scientists believe that both the asteroid and the comet are fragments of a single, much larger object that broke up some 20,000 years ago, leaving a collection of debris known collectively as the Encke Complex.—
Tom Hawking,
Popular Science,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Advertisement The shard bomb detonates, but victory comes at a cost.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
24 Oct. 2025
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Scott Wedgewood finally came unglued and left Colorado’s chances of winning in shards on the ice.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Splinter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splinter. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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