as in slivers
a small flat piece separated from a whole
she got a splinter from the unfinished wall
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Recent Examples of splinters
Joseph Flaherty, Arkansas Online, 23 Apr. 2026
In 1903, a vicious winter storm reduced most of the piers to splinters, and by 1906 offshore oil production at Summerland had all but ceased.
—Jeffrey Marlow, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2026
Upon impact, cannonballs would have sent wooden splinters flying like debris from grenades.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 5 Apr. 2026
Weeks before King Charles' coronation, The Times reported that Pope Francis, then the leader of the Catholic Church, gave King Charles two splinters of wood believed to be from the True Cross as a personal gift in honor of the coronation.
—Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 2 Apr. 2026
Unlike typical wooden options, this one offers much easier maintenance thanks to its high-density polyethylene (HDPE) build that won’t require repainting nor leave you with pesky splinters.
—Carly Totten, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 Mar. 2026
Injuries range from mouth splinters and choking to bowel blockages, eye damage, wounds, infections, or even sticks penetrating the body; vets have treated severe cases, some fatal.
—Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026
Their performance is stoking a rising sense of anxiety among Democrats as their vote splinters among a field of eight contenders, with the head of the state party calling on low-polling candidates to quit by April 15.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2026
The ground shakes and the hardwood splinters.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2026
Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026
Megyn Kelly is continuing her hard-right tack, lashing back at Ben Shapiro and aligning herself with Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon as the MAGA movement dramatically splinters.
—Kimberly Nordyke, HollywoodReporter, 23 Dec. 2025
Rumors are swirling in Kansas political circles that Republican leaders are considering initiating a special session like the one that just concluded in Missouri and produced a new map that splinters Kansas City into three congressional districts.
—Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2025
Instead of picking a single character to follow for the duration of the film, Cregger splinters the mystery among six people, separated into distinct chapters, beginning with Justine.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 5 Aug. 2025
Noun
Bricks, scorched wood frame splinters and other debris are scattered there.
—Joseph Flaherty, Arkansas Online, 23 Apr. 2026
In 1903, a vicious winter storm reduced most of the piers to splinters, and by 1906 offshore oil production at Summerland had all but ceased.
—Jeffrey Marlow, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2026
Upon impact, cannonballs would have sent wooden splinters flying like debris from grenades.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 5 Apr. 2026
Weeks before King Charles' coronation, The Times reported that Pope Francis, then the leader of the Catholic Church, gave King Charles two splinters of wood believed to be from the True Cross as a personal gift in honor of the coronation.
—Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 2 Apr. 2026
Unlike typical wooden options, this one offers much easier maintenance thanks to its high-density polyethylene (HDPE) build that won’t require repainting nor leave you with pesky splinters.
—Carly Totten, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 Mar. 2026
Injuries range from mouth splinters and choking to bowel blockages, eye damage, wounds, infections, or even sticks penetrating the body; vets have treated severe cases, some fatal.
—Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026
Their performance is stoking a rising sense of anxiety among Democrats as their vote splinters among a field of eight contenders, with the head of the state party calling on low-polling candidates to quit by April 15.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2026
The ground shakes and the hardwood splinters.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2026
Verb
Endlessly switching between apps and online platforms splinters our attention and can lead to digital exhaustion, leaving us anxious, apathetic and unfocused.
—Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026
Megyn Kelly is continuing her hard-right tack, lashing back at Ben Shapiro and aligning herself with Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon as the MAGA movement dramatically splinters.
—Kimberly Nordyke, HollywoodReporter, 23 Dec. 2025
Rumors are swirling in Kansas political circles that Republican leaders are considering initiating a special session like the one that just concluded in Missouri and produced a new map that splinters Kansas City into three congressional districts.
—Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2025
Instead of picking a single character to follow for the duration of the film, Cregger splinters the mystery among six people, separated into distinct chapters, beginning with Justine.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for splinters
Noun
-
Strong storms are also possible in northern Oklahoma, central Kansas and slivers of Arkansas and Missouri.—
Kyle Reiman,
ABC News,
25 Apr. 2026
-
How much America’s Culinary Cup relies on head-to-head cook-offs to send people home gives all those slivers of information a little more urgency, though.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The map slices through Kansas City, splitting the city’s voters across three Republican-leaning districts.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Toast 2–4 slices bread of choice (such as country-style sourdough or multigrain).—
Rebecca Firkser,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The plainclothes detectives, who were wearing NYPD vests, then dragged Brown on the floor, over shards of broken glass, to the front of the store, ordering him to stop resisting.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Expect plenty of flying shards and other obstacles to make the free-for-all more frenetic.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Consider two investors, one who invests $7,500 at the beginning of the year, and another who chops it up into $288 biweekly investments.—
Ryan Ermey,
CNBC,
24 Feb. 2026
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The proposal chops $150 million from the Developmental Disabilities Administration, which battled against the largest budget cut in last year's negotiations.—
JT Moodee Lockman,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Eating ultraprocessed pancakes for breakfast, chips with lunch, a bag of cookies for a snack and a pizza for dinner could quickly add up.—
Sandee LaMotte,
CNN Money,
29 Apr. 2026
-
New orders for the specialized and embedded chips that NXP and its peers make—not to be confused with the high-performance AI silicon that gets all the news headlines—are finally rising after a long slump going all the way back to the COVID-19 pandemic.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The move also essentially splits the market in states that have legalized weed for both medical and recreational consumers.—
Tiney Ricciardi,
Denver Post,
24 Apr. 2026
-
With a class of 70 students, Schaffer splits the job with his teaching assistants.—
Jocelyn Gecker,
Fortune,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The modern system of succession was designed to anticipate worst-case scenarios—but only in fragments.—
Vivian Salama,
The Atlantic,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Many Americans may not be familiar with microplastics, which are tiny fragments of plastic, often invisible to the human eye.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Splinters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splinters. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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