split

Pronunciation

• enPR: spliĭt
• IPA ^(key): /spliɪt/
• SAMPA: /spliIt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

Plain form split

Third-person singular splits

Past tense split

Past participle split

Present participle splitting

A split rock

The road splits

1. (transitive & intransitive) If a group of people splits or is split, the people don't agree, so the group becomes more than one group.

   Female voters overall are evenly split between Obama (48%) and McCain (47%).

   A year after splitting with his wife, he's back in New Zealand.

2. (transitive) If you split something, you separate, cut, or break it into different parts.

   East and West Germany were split apart at the end of World War II.

   She split the wood in half.

   They split into two teams.

   The two agreed to split the bill.

3. (transitive & intransitive) If you split your skin, you cut it by hitting it.
4. (intransitive); (slang) If you split, you leave.
5. A splitting headache is a very painful headache.
6. The past tense and past participle of split.

Synonyms

• separate
• go
• leave
• break

Noun

Singular split

Plural splits

A man doing the splits

A banana split

1. (countable) A split between two groups is a strong disagreement.

   Time brought about the split between Moscow and Beijing.

2. (countable) A split in something, is a place where it breaks into two or where there is a long thing opening.

   The split in the wood had grown wider over the years.

3. If you do the splits, you spread your legs so that your feet are pointing away from each other.
4. A kind of ice cream dessert.

Synonyms

• difference
• break
• division
• hole
• opening
• separation
• crack
• tear