split 
He straight inform'd a lute, 
Put neck and frets to it ; of which a suit 
lie made of ftplittett quills. 
Chapman, Homeric Hymn to Hermes, 1. 88. 
2. To tear asunder by violence ; burst ; rend : 
as, to split a rock or a sail. 
Do't, and thou hast the one half of my heart; 
Do't not, thou split'st thine own. 
Shak., W. T.,1. 2.349. 
That Man makes me .*pii( my Sides with Laughing, he 's 
such a Wag. Steele, Tender Husband, ii. 1. 
3. To divide ; break into parts. 
The parish of St. Pancras is spiff into no less than 21 
districts, each district having a separate and independent 
"Board." 
Mayheu', London Labour and London Poor, II. 187. 
4. To cause division or disunion in ; separate 
or cause to separate into parts or parties, as 
by discord. 
In states notoriously irreligious, a secret and irresisti- 
ble power splits their counsels, and smites their most re- 
fined policies with frustration and a curse. South. 
5. In leatlier-maniif., to divide (a skin) paral- 
lel with one of its surfaces. See splitting-ma- 
chine. 6. In coal-mining, to divide (a current 
of air passing through any part of a mine) so 
that various districts, as required, shall be sup- 
plied TO split hairs. See hairi. TO split one's 
votes, in cases where an elector has more than one vote, 
to vote for candidates of opposite parties. 
He calls himself a Whig, yet he'll split votes with a Tory 
he'll drive with the Debarrys. 
George Eliot, Felix Holt, xi. 
= Syn. 1-3. Tear, Cleave, etc. See rend*. 
II. intrans. 1. To break or part lengthwise ; 
suffer longitudinal division ; become divided or 
cleft: as, timber that splits easily. 2. To part 
asunder; suffer disruption; burst; break in 
pieces: as, the sails split in the gale. 3. Fig- 
uratively, to burst with laughter. [Colloq.] 
Each had a gravity would make you split. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, II. ii. 131. 
4. To differ ; separate ; disagree. 
We . . . struck upon the corn-laws, where we split. 
Tennyson, Audley Court. 
5. To divulge secrets; inform upon one's ac- 
complices; betray confidence. [Slang.] 
I might have got clear off, if I'd split upon her. . . . 
But I didn't blab it. Dickens, Oliver Twist, xxv. 
6. To vote for candidates of opposite parties. 
See to split one's votes, under I. 
Ill plump or I'll split for them as treat me the hand- 
somest and are the most of what I call gentlemen ; that's 
my idee. George Eliot, Felix Holt, xi. 
7. To run or walk with long strides. [Colloq.] 
To make (or let) all split*. See matei. 
split (split), ji. [= Mb. splete, D. spleet, a split, 
rent, = G. spleisse, a splinter, = Dan. Sw. split, 
a split, rent: see split, v.~\ If. A splinter; a 
fragment ; a sliver. 
If I must totter like a well-grown oak, 
Some under-shrubs shall in my weighty fall 
Be cruBh'd to splits. Ford, 'Tis Pity, v. 3. 
2. One of a number of short flat strips of steel, 
cane, etc., placed in vertical parallel order at 
small distances from one another in a frame to 
form the reed of a loom. The threads of the 
web are passed through the splits, which beat 
up the weft to compact the fabric. 3. An 
osier, or willow twig, split so as to have one 
side flat, used in basket-making in certain parts 
of the work. 4. A lath-like strip of bog-fir 
used in the rural districts of Ireland as a can- 
dle or torch. 5. pi. In leather-manuf., skins 
which have been separated into two layers by 
the cutting-machine. 6. A crack, rent, or 
longitudinal fissure. 7. A -division or sepa- 
ration, as in a political party; a schism; a 
breach: as, there is a split in the cabinet. 
The humiliation of acknowledging a split in their own 
ranks. Nineteenth Century, XXVI. 749. 
8. Same as split stroke. See split, p. a. 9. In 
printing, a small spindle placed below the car- 
riage of a printing-press, about which leather 
belts wind in opposite directions and lead to 
opposite ends of the carriage. By turning this 
spindle by a crank attached, the carriage is 
moved in or out. 10. pi. Among acrobats, 
the feat of going down on the ground with 
each leg extended laterally : as, to do the splits. 
[Slang.] 
He taught me to put my leg round my neck, and I was 
just getting along nicely with the splits . . . when I left 
him. Mayhem, London Labour and London Poor, II. 569. 
11. An occasion for splitting or dividing that 
which could otherwise be claimed by one per- 
son: thus, in faro, a split occurs when two 
cards of the same value appear together, and 
the better loses half of his stake. 12. A split 
5849 
fish: as, Nova Scotia n/ilitx: a trade-name. 
13. A division of the air-current in a coal- 
mine. 14. A small or half bottle of aerated 
water; also, a halt' glass of brandy or the like. 
[Slang.] 
"Well, that's your opinion," said Jack, finishing his 
brandy. " Perhaps if you knew what it is to love a woman, 
your opinion would be different. Have another spirt? I 
must lie otf, then." The Century, XXXVII. 21(1. 
A split in the ranks. See ra*2.- Full split See 
/i<tti. To run like split, to run very fast. [Colloq.] 
Split (split),;). . 1. Divided; separated; rent; 
fractured. 2. In hot., deeply divided into seg- 
ments; cleft. 3. Opened, dressed, and cured, 
as fish : opposed to niiiH/l. Split cloth, in surg., a 
bandage which consists of a central part and six or eight 
tails. It is used chiefly for the.head. Split cut, in glass- 
engraving, a groove like a flute, except that it is cut 
deeper.- Split draft. See drafti. Split ferrule. See 
ferrule?. Split gear, or split Wheel, a gear or wheel 
made in halves for convenience in attaching or removing 
from the shaft. See cut under paint-mill. Split gland, 
herring, leather. See the nouns. Split moss, a moss 
of the order Andreseaceie : so called from the manner i 
which the capsule splits at maturity. See Anaresm. 
Split pease, husked pease split for making pease-soup 
or pease-pudding. Split pelvis, a congenital deformity 
in which the pubic bones are not united at the symphysis. 
- Split ring, rod, ticket, etc. See the nouns. Split 
stroke or shot, in croquet and similar games, a stroke or 
shot made in such a way that two balls placed in contact 
are driven in different directions. 
split-back (split'bak), a. Having aback made 
of thin splits or laths: as, a split-back chair. 
splitbeak (split'bek), n. A bird of the genus 
Schizorhis; one of the plantain-eaters ortoura- 
cous: a book-name. 
split-bottomed (split'bot"umd), . Same as 
splint-bottomed. 
split-brilliant (split'bril"yant), 11. See bril- 
liant. 
splitfeet (split'fet), n. pi. The fissiped carni- 
vores. See Fissipedia. 
splitfoot (split'fut), n. The devil, from the 
cloven hoofs which are popularly attributed to 
him. 
splitful (split'ful), . [< split + -fttl.] In 
weaving, the number of yarns, whether two or 
more, passed through each split or opening in 
the reed of the batten or lathe. E. H. Knight. 
split-harness (split'har'nes), . Same as shaft- 
monture (which see, under monture). 
splitmouth (split'mouth), n. The hare-lipped 
sucker, or cutlips, a fish, Quassilabia lacera: 
more fully called split-mouthed sucker. See cut 
under Quassilabia. 
split-new (split'nu), a. [< split + neic. Cf. 
span-new, spick-and-span-new.'] Quite new; 
brand-new; span-new. [Scotch.] 
A split-new democratical system. Bp. Sage. 
splittail (split'tal), . 1. A cyprinoid fish, 
Pogonichthys macrolepidotus, a kind of chub, 
characterized by the great development of the 
Splittail (PofOHichtftys macrolepittctus). 
upper lobe of the caudal fin and its rudimen- 
tary rays (whence the synonym P.inseguilobus). 
It is of a uniform and somewhat silvery coloration, grows 
to be a foot long, and inhabits the rivers of California. 
2. The pintail duck, Daflaacuta. See pintail, 
1, and cut under Dafila. [Massachusetts.] 
splitter (split'er), n. [< split + -eri.] 1. One 
who or that which splits: as, a rail-splitter; 
also, an implement used in splitting. 2. One 
who splits hairs ; one who makes too fine dis- 
tinctions, as in argument, classification, etc. : 
in natural history, opposed to lumper. See the 
quotation under lumper, 3. [Slang.] 3. A 
kind of rich short-cake baked in irons like 
waffles, and then split and buttered. [U. S.] 
splitting (split'ing), a. 1. Very severe, or in 
gome way extreme, as if it were likely to cause 
something to split : as, a splitting headache. 
2. Very rapid. [Colloq.] 
Though stout, he was no mean pedestrian ; and on he 
ran at a splitting pace, keeping the hounds still in view, 
and intent only on seeing as much of the sport as he could. 
Whyte Melville, White Hose, II. IT. 
splitting-knife (split'ing-nif), n. I. The^knife 
of a leather-splitting machine. It is usually a steel 
plate of the length of the cylinder, or about 6 feet long, 
and is gaged to a distance from a roller over which the 
sheet separates and the grain-side split winds as the hide 
passes through the machine. 
spodomancy 
2. A knife used for splitting fish. 3. In dia- 
iiiniiil-ciilting, a steel blade used by the diamond- 
cleaver. 
splitting-machine (split'ing-ma-shen' 1 '), n. 1. 
A machine for dividing a skin of leather paral- 
lel with one of its surfaces in order to produce 
a sheet of uniform thickness. 2. A machine 
for resawing thick boards. E. H. Knight. 
splitting-saw (split'ing-sa), n. 1. Aresawing- 
machine. 2. A machine for sawing a round 
log into bolts, instead of riving or sawing re- 
peatedly through it in parallel planes. It is used 
in preparing stuff for ax- and pick-handles, and other work 
in which the direction of the grain must be considered. 
split-tongued (split'tungd), a. Fissilingual, as 
a lizard. 
sploacht , ii . An obsolete form of splotch . Wyclier- 
lei/. 
splodge (sploj), . A variant of splotch. 
A splodge of green for a Held, and a splodge of purple for 
a mountain, and a little blue slopped here and there on a 
piece of white paper for a sky. 
Contemporary Rev., XLIX. 397. 
Splore (splor), . [Origin obscure ; cf . splurge.] 
A frolic; a spree. [Scotch.] 
In Poosie Nancy's held the ttplure. 
Burns, Jolly Beggars. 
splore (splor), . i. ; pret. and pp. splored, ppr. 
sploring. [Cf. splore, n.] To make a great 
show; show off. [Scotch.] 
splott (splot), n. [< ME. splot, < AS. splot, a 
spot, blot. Cf. spot. Hence splotch."] A spot; 
a splotch. 
splotch (sploch), n. [Formerly also sploacli 
(also in var. form splotch and Sfjlodge, q. v.); a 
var. or irreg. extension of splot (cf . blotch as re- 
lated to blot 1 )."] A broad, ill-defined spot; a 
stain ; a daub ; a smear. 
Thou spot, sploach of my family and blood ! 
Wycherley, Gentleman Dancing-Master, v. 1. 
The leaves were crumpled, and smeared with stains and 
splotches of grease. M. E. Braddon, Eleanor's Victory, v. 
splotchy (sploch'i), a. [<.splotch + -y 1 .'\ Mark- 
ed with splotches or daubs. 
There were splotchy engravings scattered here and there 
through the pages of Monsieur Feval's romance. 
M. E. Braddon, Eleanor's Victory, v. 
splurge (splerj), H. [Origin obscure ; cf. splore."] 
A blustering, noisv, or ostentatious demonstra- 
tion, display, or effort. [Colloq.] 
The great splurge made by our American cousins when 
. . . they completed another connection with the Pacific. 
Daily Telegraph, Dec. 28, 1886. (Encyc. Diet.) 
splurge (splerj), v. i. ; pret. and pp. splurged, 
ppr. splurging. [< splurge, .] To make an 
ostentatious demonstration or display. [Col- 
loq.] 
You'd be surprised to know the number of people who 
come here [to Newport], buy or build expensive villas, 
splurge out for a year or two, then fail or get tired of it, 
and disappear. C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 114. 
splurgy (spier' ji), a. [< splurge + -yl.] Mak- 
ing, or disposed to make, a splurge. [Colloq.] 
splutter (splut'er), r. [A var. of "sprutter, freq. 
of sprout, or of sputter, freq. of spout: see sprout, 
spout, and cf. spurt 1 . Cf. splatter as related to 
spatter."} I. intrans. 1. To sputter. 
A row of apples roasting and spluttering along the 
hearth. Irving, Sketch-Book, p. 425. 
2. To talk hastily and confusedly. 
II. trans. To utter confusedly or indistinctly, 
as through haste, excitement, embarrassment, 
or the like : often with out or forth : as, to splut- 
ter out an apology. 
splutter (splut'er), . [< splutter, t\] Bustle; 
stir; commotion. [Colloq.] 
Bingwood . . . lighted amidst the flowers, and the 
water, and the oil-lamps, and made a dreadful mess and 
splutter among them. Thackeray, Philip, xxiv. 
splutterer (splut'er-er), n. [< splutter + -eri."\ 
One who or that which splutters. 
spodiosite (spod'i-o-sit), n. [Irreg. < Gr. em-o- 
oiof, ash-colored, ashy (< ovo66f, ashes), + -ite 2 .] 
A fluophosphate of calcium, found in ash-gray 
crystals in Wermland, Sweden. 
spodium (spo'di-um), n. [ML., < L. spodium, 
the dross of metals, < Gr. orrodof, ashes.] A pow- 
der obtained by calcination, as ivory-black, me- 
tallic calxes, etc. [Now rare.] 
spodogenous (spo-doj-e-nus), a. [< Gr. oiro66f, 
ashes, + -yevijt, producing: see -genous.] Caused 
by debris or waste products: applied byPou- 
fick to enlargement of the spleen caused by the 
debris of the red blood-corpuscles, as in hemi- 
globinemia. 
spodomancy (spod'o-man-si), . [< Gr. mroS6f, 
ashes, embers, + pdvreia, divination.] Divina- 
tion by means of ashes. 
