splinter

A long, sharp fragment of material, often wood.

Noun

A long, sharp fragment of material, often wood.
1. A small such fragment that gets embedded in the flesh.
A group that formed by splitting off from a larger membership.
A double-jump bid which indicates shortage in the bid suit.
A fragment of a component word in a blend.

From Middle English splenter, splinter, from Middle Dutch splinter, equivalent to splint + -er.

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,...
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...
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.
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: