splits

split  (splt)

v. split, split·ting, splits

v.tr.

1. To divide from end to end or along the grain by or as if by a sharp blow. See Synonyms at tear¹.

2.

a. To break, burst, or rip apart with force; rend. See Synonyms at break.

b. To affect with force in a way that suggests tearing apart: A lightning bolt split the night sky.

3. To separate (people or groups, for example); disunite.

4. To divide and share: split a dessert.

5. To divide, as for convenience or proper ordering: split the project up into stages.

6. To separate (leather, for example) into layers.

7. To mark (a vote or ballot) in favor of candidates from different parties.

8. To divide (stock) by issuing multiples of the existing stock with a corresponding reduction in the price of each share, so that the total value of the stock is unchanged.

9. Sports To win half the games of (a series or double-header).

10. Slang To depart from; leave: a mobster who suddenly split town.

v.intr.

1. To become separated into parts, especially to undergo lengthwise division.

2. To become broken or ripped apart, especially from internal pressure.

3. To become or admit of being divided: Let's split up into teams. This poem doesn't split up into stanzas very well.

4. Informal To become divided or part company as a result of discord or disagreement: She split with the regular party organization. They split up after a year of marriage.

5. To divide or share something with others.

6. Slang To depart; leave: All the older kids have split to go dancing.

n.

1. The act of splitting or the result of it.

2. A breach or rupture in a group.

3. A splinter.

4. Something divided and portioned out; a share.

5. Sports The recorded time for an interval or segment of a race.

6. A strip of flexible wood used for making baskets.

7.

a. A bottle of an alcoholic or carbonated beverage half the usual size.

b. A drink of half the usual quantity.

c. A half pint.

8. A dessert of sliced fruit, ice cream, and toppings.

9. Sports An acrobatic feat in which the legs are stretched out straight in opposite directions at right angles to the trunk. Often used in the plural.

10. Sports An arrangement of bowling pins left standing after a bowl, in which two or more pins remain standing with one or more pins between them knocked down.

11. A single thickness of a split hide.

adj.

1. Having been divided or separated.

2. Fissured longitudinally; cleft.

3.

a. Quoted in 16ths rather than in 8ths. Used of stocks.

b. Having been split. Used of stocks.

Idiom:

split hairs

To see or make trivial distinctions; quibble.

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[Dutch splitten, from Middle Dutch.]

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splitter n.

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splits

Noun

(in gymnastics and dancing) the act of sitting with both legs outstretched, pointing in opposite directions, and at right angles to the body