split seconds

noun

plural of split second
as in minutes
a very small space of time a devastating accident can cause everything in your life to change in a split second

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of split seconds That direct link gives Wall Street a leg up over retail traders by delivering Truth Social posts split seconds faster than the public sees them. — David Goldman, CNN Money, 11 Aug. 2026 Rispoli seemed not totally aware of what happened in the split seconds before the start of the San Diego Handicap. — Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 July 2026 In just split seconds, a speeding car going sideways comes to a crashing stop. — Madisen Keavy, CBS News, 18 June 2026 The brain must calculate angles in split seconds. — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 20 May 2026 When addressing the costly turnovers, like the fourth-quarter interception that put the Bills in position to seal the 31-21 win, Tagovailoa points out those decisions are made in split seconds. — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 26 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for split seconds
  1. minutes
  2. seconds
  3. moments
  4. heartbeats
Noun
  • Those games became the first in Summer Olympic history to publish invaluable epidemiologic data such as diagnoses, core temperatures, and minutes-to-cool, which continue to inform Olympic planning.
    — Vibhu Krishna, STAT, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The handful of Israeli passengers grappled with the copilot for several minutes before subduing him and binding his hands with the cord from a set of headphones.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of minutes
Noun
  • The seconds-long loop consists of a purple image of a tank silhouette moving rapidly across the picture plane and patterned with what resemble dithered approximations of analog video interference.
    — Simon Denny, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Schmitt’s evidentiary board was produced again, and this time for more than a few seconds.
    — Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of seconds
Noun
  • There will be moments when someone looks toward the door expecting to see that smile, that wave, or that familiar face coming in to say hello.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 26 Sep. 2026
  • The rivers of people who crammed central Paris and their joyful enthusiasm rivaled other communal, though nonreligious, moments of celebration that marked France in recent decades.
    — Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of moments
Noun
  • Others include Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s light and sound installation Pulse Topology (2021), installed in 2023, in which visitors’ heartbeats inform the pulse of lights hanging overhead.
    — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Simpson was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, a rare heart condition that can cause irregular heartbeats and sudden cardiac death in seemingly healthy individuals, per John Hopkins Medicine.
    — Raven Brunner, PEOPLE, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of heartbeats

Browse Nearby Words

split second
split seconds
splits hairs
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Split seconds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/split%20seconds. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of heterodox

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All