splinter
verbEtymology From the noun splinter.
1
To come apart into long sharp fragments.
- The tall tree splintered during the storm.
- It was all coming at her now: the fatigue and the fever; pieces of her lung splintering and mixing with her throwup; the calcifications on her bones, where the disease had already spread.2012, Marcus Samuelsson, “One: My African Mother”, in Yes, Chef, Random House, →ISBN, page 6:
2
To cause to break apart into long sharp fragments.
- His third kick splintered the door.
- After splintering their lances, they wheeled about, and […] abandoned the field to the enemy.1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:
3
Figuratively, Of a group To break, or cause to break, into factions.
- The government splintered when the coalition members could not agree.
- The unpopular new policies splintered the company.
4
To fasten or confine with splinters, or splints, as a broken limb.
- it will be very hard for Me to Splinter up the broken confuséd Pieces of it.1659, Matthew Wren, Monarchy Asserted Or The State of Monarchicall & Popular Government:
- Synonyms
- sliver
- Derived terms
- nonsplintering, splinterable, splinteringly, splinter up, unsplintered
- Related terms
- splint