Link Centre Dictionary

split

UK/splɪt/ US/ˈsplɪt/ common slang

verb

1.

separate into parts or portions

  • “divide the cake into three equal parts”
  • “The British carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I”
2.

separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument

  • “cleave the bone”
Synonyms
3.

discontinue an association or relation; go different ways

  • “The business partners broke over a tax question”
  • “The couple separated after 25 years of marriage”
  • “My friend and I split up”
4.

go one''s own away; move apart

  • “The friends separated after the party”
Synonyms
5.

break open or apart suddenly

  • “The bubble burst”

noun

1.

extending the legs at right angles to the trunks (one in front and the other in back)

2.

a bottle containing half the usual amount

3.

a promised or claimed share of loot or money

  • “he demanded his split before they disbanded”
4.

a lengthwise crack in wood

  • “he inserted the wedge into a split in the log”
5.

an opening made forcibly as by pulling apart

  • “there was a rip in his pants”
  • “she had snags in her stockings”
6.
7.

a dessert of sliced fruit and ice cream covered with whipped cream and cherries and nuts

8.

(tenpin bowling) a divided formation of pins left standing after the first bowl

  • “he was winning until he got a split in the tenth frame”
9.

an increase in the number of outstanding shares of a corporation without changing the shareholders'' equity

  • “they announced a two-for-one split of the common stock”
10.

the act of rending or ripping or splitting something

  • “he gave the envelope a vigorous rip”
Synonyms
11.

division of a group into opposing factions

  • “another schism like that and they will wind up in bankruptcy”
Synonyms

adjective

1.

being divided or separated

  • “split between love and hate”
Similar
2.

having been divided; having the unity destroyed

  • “Congress...gave the impression of...a confusing sum of disconnected local forces” Samuel Lubell
  • “a league of disunited nations” E.B.White
  • “a fragmented coalition”
  • “a split group”
3.

broken or burst apart longitudinally

  • “after the thunderstorm we found a tree with a split trunk”
  • “they tore big juicy chunks from the heart of the split watermelon”
Similar
4.

having a long rip or tear

  • “a split lip”
Synonyms
Similar
5.

(especially of wood) cut or ripped longitudinally with the grain

  • “we bought split logs for the fireplace”
Similar

Origin

Attested since about 1567, from Middle Dutch splitten (“to split”) and/or Middle Low German splitten (“to split”), both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *splittjan, an intensive form of Proto-West Germanic *splītan (“to split”), from Proto-Germanic *splītaną (whence Danish splitte, Low German splieten, German spleißen), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pley- (“to split, splice”). Compare Middle English ysplett (“split”, past participle of splatten (“to split”)), Old English speld (“splinter”), Old High German spaltan (“to split”), Middle Irish slis (“splinter”), Lithuanian spaliai (“flax sheaves”), Czech půl (“half”), Old Church Slavonic рас-плитати (ras-plitati, “to cleave, split”).

Related words

Parts

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.