verb (used with object), split, split·ting.
- to divide or separate from end to end or into layers: to split a log in two.
- to separate by cutting, chopping, etc., usually lengthwise: to split a piece from a block.
- to tear or break apart; rend or burst: The wind split the sail.
- to divide into distinct parts or portions (often followed by up): We split up our rations.
- to separate (a part) by such division.
- to divide (persons) into different groups, factions, parties, etc., as by discord: to split a political party.
- to separate (a group, family, etc.) by such division.
- to cast (a ballot or vote) for candidates of more than one political party.
- to divide between two or more persons, groups, etc.; share: We split a bottle of wine.
- to separate into parts by interposing something: to split an infinitive.
- Physics, Chemistry. to divide (molecules or atoms) by cleavage into smaller parts.
- to issue additional shares of (stock) without charge to existing stockholders, thereby dividing their interest into a larger number of shares and reducing the price per share.
- Slang. leave; depart from: Let’s split this scene.
verb (used without object), split, split·ting.
- to divide, break, or part lengthwise: The board split in half.
- to part, divide, or separate in any way (often followed by up): The group of children split up into two teams. We’ll split up here and meet later.
- to break asunder, as a ship by striking on a rock.
- to become separated, as a piece or part from a whole.
- to part or separate, as through disagreement; sever relations: They split up after a year of marriage. He split with the company after a policy dispute.
- to divide or share something with another or others; apportion.
- Slang. to leave; depart.
noun
- the act of splitting.
- a crack, tear, or fissure caused by splitting.
- a piece or part separated by or as by splitting.
- a breach or rupture, as between persons, in a party or organization, etc.
- a faction, party, etc., formed by a rupture or schism.
- an ice-cream dish made from sliced fruit, usually a banana, and ice cream, and covered with syrup and nuts.
- Also called, especially British, nip. a bottle for wine or, sometimes, another beverage, containing from 6 to 6½ ounces (170 to 184 grams).
- a bottle, as of soda, liquor, etc., which is half the usual size.
- a strip split from an osier, used in basketmaking.
- Masonry. a brick of normal length and breadth but of half normal thickness, used to give level support to a course of bricks laid over one not level.
- Often splits. the feat of separating the legs while sinking to the floor, until they extend at right angles to the body, as in stage performances or gymnastics.
- Bowling. an arrangement of the pins remaining after the first bowl in two separated groups, so that a spare is difficult.
- Philately. bisect(def 5).
- one of the layers of leather into which a skin is cut.
- the act of splitting a stock.
adjective
- that has undergone splitting; parted lengthwise; cleft.
- disunited; divided: a split opinion.
- (of a stock quotation) given in sixteenths instead of eighths of a point.
- (of a stock) having undergone a split.
Idioms
- split hairs. hair(def 11).
- split the difference. difference(def 13).
noun
- a port and resort in W Croatia on the Adriatic: remains of the palace of Diocletian (295–305). Pop: 188 000 (2005 est)Italian name: Spalato
verb splits, splitting or split
- to break or cause to break, esp forcibly, by cleaving into separate pieces, often into two roughly equal piecesto split a brick
- to separate or be separated from a wholehe split a piece of wood from the block
- to separate or be separated into factions, usually through discord
- (often foll by up) to separate or cause to separate through a disagreement
- (when tr, often foll by up) to divide or be divided among two or more personssplit up the pie among the three of us
- slang to depart; leavelet’s split; we split the scene
- (tr) to separate (something) into its components by interposing something elseto split a word with hyphens
- (intr usually foll by on) slang to betray the trust, plans, etc (of); informhe split on me to the cops
- (tr) US politics to mark (a ballot, etc) so as to vote for the candidates of more than one partyhe split the ticket
- (tr) to separate (an animal hide or skin) into layers
- split hairs to make a fine but needless distinction
- split one’s sides to laugh very heartily
- split the difference
- to settle a dispute by effecting a compromise in which both sides give way to the same extent
- to divide a remainder equally
noun
- the act or process of splitting
- a gap or rift caused or a piece removed by the process of splitting
- a breach or schism in a group or the faction resulting from such a breach
- a dessert of sliced fruit and ice cream, covered with whipped cream, nuts, etcbanana split
- See Devonshire split
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- a separated layer of an animal hide or skin other than the outer layer
- leather made from such a layer
- tenpin bowling a formation of the pins after the first bowl in which there is a large gap between two pins or groups of pins
- informal an arrangement or process of dividing up loot or money
adjective
- having been split; dividedsplit logs
- having a split or splitshair with split ends
v.1580s, from Middle Dutch splitten, from Proto-Germanic *spl(e)it- (cf. Danish and Frisian splitte, Old Frisian splita, German spleißen “to split”), from PIE *(s)plei- “to split, splice” (see flint). Meaning “leave, depart” first recorded 1954, U.S. slang. Of couples, “to separate, divorce” from 1942. To split the difference is from 1715; to split (one’s) ticket in the U.S. political sense is attested from 1842. Splitting image “exact likeness” is from 1880. Split screen is from 1953; split shift is from 1955; split personality first attested 1919. Split-level as a type of building plan is recorded from 1952. Split-second first attested 1884, in reference to a type of stopwatch with two second hands that could be stopped independently; adjectival meaning “occurring in a fraction of a second” is from 1946. n.1861 as the name of the acrobatic feat, from split (v.). Meaning “sweet dish of sliced fruit with ice cream” is attested from 1920, American English. v.
- To divide from end to end or along the grain by or as if by a sharp blow; tear.
- To break, burst, or rip apart with force; rend.
- To separate; disunite.
- To break apart or divide a chemical compound into simpler constituents.