split.
To divide fully or partly along a more or less straight line.
Meaning & usage
To divide fully or partly along a more or less straight line.
He has split his lip.
Of something solid, particularly wood, to break along the grain fully or partly along a more or less straight line.
To share; to divide.
We split the money among three people.
To leave.
Let's split this scene and see if we can find a real party.
To separate.
Did you hear Dick and Jane split? They'll probably get a divorce.
To (cause to) break up; to throw into discord.
Accusations of bribery split the party just before the election.
To factor into linear factors.
To factor into linear factors. To be expressable as a direct sum of sub-modules, -algebras, etc.
To factor into linear factors. To contain an object which may be so expressed.
To be broken; to be dashed to pieces.
To burst out laughing.
To divulge a secret; to betray confidence; to peach.
For 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.
To vote for candidates of opposite parties.
Where this word comes from
Attested 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”).
Divided.
Republicans appear split on the centerpiece of Mr. Obama's economic recovery plan.
Having the middle object (group, module, etc.) equal to the direct sum of the others.
Comprising half decaffeinated and half caffeinated espresso.
Divided so as to be done or executed part at one time or price and part at another time or price.
Given in sixteenths rather than eighths.
Designating ordinary stock that has been divided into preferred ordinary and deferred ordinary.
Where this word comes from
Attested 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”).
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.
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.
A 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.
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.
Where this word comes from
Attested 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”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.