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
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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
Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Oct. 2025
The revelation felt like a splinter that lodged itself in Kai’s heart.
—Johnny Dodd, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025
Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
The fourth installment is where the impact of player choice begins to truly splinter the narrative.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for splinter
Noun
After cutting and trimming any splinters, place the stakes behind the trellis.
—Verb
Anya Taylor-Joy, in her film debut as the family's teenage daughter, appears to be the center of the escalating occurrences, as the clan begins to splinter.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for splinter
Noun
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Its bright ombré glaze, which is chip and stain resistant, adds a pop of color to any area.—
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Ole Miss chips away Canes defense again bends but doesn’t break.—
Verb
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There’s one more tip that will make slicing soft cheese simple.—
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Grate it for a slaw, or add it thinly sliced to salads for a refreshing crunch.—
Verb
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Arsenal’s first half in the 4-1 home win against Aston Villa a week ago — when the visitors continuously broke through the middle of the pitch — was the perfect example of what happens when their partnership is split up, in this case by Rice’s knee injury.—
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In the aftermath, Venezuelan society became further split between the wealthy, who wanted to work with the US, and the working class, who sought autonomy from the US.—
Noun
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Here, a sliver of orangey-red pops against a cool-toned ruby hue.—
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Like these forerunners, the pleasures of Knight’s A Thousand Blows, which premiered all six episodes of its second season on Hulu Friday, lies in looking back on that thin sliver of time, about 15 years ago, when anachronistic old-timey crime was in vogue.—
Verb
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To speed up the decomposition process in the compost pile, chop the plants into small pieces and tear apart the soil mass.—
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As for Quavo himself, the Atlanta rapper recently chopped it up with Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young for Billboard and The Player Tribune’s first episode of their Switching Stages video series.—
Verb
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Footage of the shooting has divided viewers, with finger-pointing over who was the aggressor and who was the victim.—
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From then until now, the image of a plate divided into sections has more clearly depicted what serving sizes should look like in an actual meal.—
Noun
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Doctors were reportedly unable to remove some of the bullet fragments from his face, and a bone near his eye was also broken.—
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People from the Kansas City area who boarded the ship are highlighted on posters hanging on the walls next to artifacts like fragments of a first-class curtain, a door handle and a White Star Line envelope.—
Noun
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Avoid handling hot shards or surfaces.—
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Today, that can mean a stair railing sculpted from cast bronze or a chandelier made of 450 shards of selenite (both, by the way, are Henault commissions).—
Cite this Entry
“Splinter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splinter. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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