Meaning
SPLINT, SPLINTER, n. [G.]
1. A piece of wood split off; a thin piece (in proportion to its thickness,) of wood or other solid substance, rent from the main body; as splinters of a ships side or mast, rent off by a shot.
2. In surgery, a thin piece of wood or other substance, used to hold or confine a broken bone when set.
3. A piece of bone rent off in a fracture.
SPLINT, SPLINTER, v.t.
1. To split or rend into long thin pieces; to shiver; as, the lightning splinters a tree.
2. To confine with splinters, as a broken limb.
