/splɪt/
OriginAttested 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”).
- ergative, transitiveTo divide fully or partly along a more or less straight line.
“He has split his lip.”
“a huge vessel of exceeding hard marble split asunder by congealed water”
“The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom. This system splits water molecules and delivers some of their elect”
- intransitiveTo break along the grain fully or partly along a more or less straight line.
- transitiveTo share; to divide.
“We split the money among three people.”
“Presently the 57-strong Class 378 fleet is split between the East London line and North London line, with 29 units allocated on the east side.”
- intransitive, slang, transitiveTo leave.
“Let's split this scene and see if we can find a real party.”
“I had this Palm Springs gig set up for Joey and the bitch split. Least he ain't nowhere around.”
- intransitiveTo separate.
“Did you hear Dick and Jane split? They'll probably get a divorce.”
- ambitransitiveTo (cause to) break up; to throw into discord.
“Accusations of bribery split the party just before the election.”
- intransitive, transitiveTo factor into linear factors.
“In the first case X²-2, the minimum polynomial of #92;sqrt 2, splits completely over #92;Q(#92;sqrt 2); in the second case we see that X³-2, the minimum polynomial of 3#92;sqrt 2, does not split compl”
- intransitive, transitiveTo be expressable as a direct sum of sub-modules, -algebras, etc.
- intransitive, transitiveTo contain an object which may be so expressed.
- To be broken; to be dashed to pieces.
“The ship splits on the rock.”
- intransitiveTo burst out laughing.
- dated, intransitive, slangTo divulge a secret; to betray confidence; to peach.
“"[…]I split, and tell all […]"”
- especiallyFor both teams involved in a doubleheader to win one game each and lose another.
“Boston split with Philadelphia in a doubleheader, winning the first game 3-1 before losing 2-0 in the nightcap.”
- intransitiveTo vote for candidates of opposite parties.
- not-comparableDivided.
“Republicans appear split on the centerpiece of Mr. Obama's economic recovery plan.”
“With the descent of the cold war, relations between the two countries (for this is, to all intents and purposes, what they became after the end of the war) were almost completely broken off, with whol”
- not-comparableHaving the middle object (group, module, etc.) equal to the direct sum of the others.
- not-comparableComprising half decaffeinated and half caffeinated espresso.
- not-comparable, usuallyDivided so as to be done or executed part at one time or price and part at another time or price.
- historical, not-comparableGiven in sixteenths rather than eighths.
“10+³⁄₁₆ is a split quotation.”
- London, not-comparableDesignating ordinary stock that has been divided into preferred ordinary and deferred ordinary.
- A crack or longitudinal fissure.
- A breach or separation, as in a political party; a division.
- A piece that is split off, or made thin, by splitting; a splinter; a fragment.
“The kernels split in shelling, known as splits, form a fifth grade of shelled Virginia peanuts.”
- One of the sections of a skin made by dividing it into two or more thicknesses.
- A maneuver of spreading or sliding the feet apart until the legs are flat on the floor 180 degrees apart, either sideways to the body or with one leg in front and one behind, thus lowering the body completely to the floor in an upright position.
- A workout routine as seen by its distribution of muscle groups or the extent and manner they are targeted in a microcycle.
- slangA split-finger fastball.
“He’s got a nasty split.”
- A result of a first throw that leaves two or more pins standing with one or more pins between them knocked down.
- A split shot or split stroke.
- A dessert or confection resembling a banana split.
- A unit of measure used for champagne or other spirits: 18.75 centiliters or one quarter of a standard 75-centiliter bottle. Commercially comparable to ¹⁄₂₀ (US) gallon, which is ¹⁄₂ of a fifth.
- A bottle of wine containing 37.5 centiliters, half the volume of a standard 75-centiliter bottle; a demi.
- The elapsed time at specific intermediate points in a race or speedrun.
“In the 3000 m race, his 800 m split was 1:45.32”
- A tear resulting from tensile stresses.
- A division of a stake happening when two cards of the kind on which the stake is laid are dealt in the same turn.
- A recording containing songs by multiple artists; a split single or split album.
- The division of a single taxon into two or more taxa; as opposed to a lump.
“[I]t would be a rare split in that it would be unlikely to result in an armchair tick for any birders, living or dead.”
Formssplits(present, singular, third-person) · splitting(participle, present) · split(participle, past) · split(past) · splits(plural)