sliver
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word sliver. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word sliver, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say sliver in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word sliver you have here. The definition of the word sliver will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofsliver, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English slivere, sliver from Middle English sliven (“to cut, cleave, split”), from Old English slīfan (as in tōslīfan (“to split, split up”)).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈslɪv.ə(ɹ)/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈslɪv.ɚ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪvə(ɹ)
Noun
sliver (plural slivers)
- A long piece cut or rent off; a sharp, slender fragment; a splinter.
- 2013, J. M. Coetzee, chapter 27, in The Childhood of Jesus, Melbourne, Australia: The Text Publishing Company, page 270:
- A sliver of bone has punctured a lung, and a small surgical operation was needed to remove it (would he like to keep the bone as a memento?--it is in a phial by his bedside).
- (Upper Midwestern US) Specifically, a splinter caught under the skin.
- A strand, or slender roll, of cotton or other fiber in a loose, untwisted state, produced by a carding machine and ready for the roving or slubbing which precedes spinning.
- (fishing) Bait made of pieces of small fish. Compare kibblings.
- (US, New York) A narrow high-rise apartment building.
- A small amount of something; a drop in the bucket; a shred.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
long piece cut or rent off; a sharp, slender fragment
|
strand or slender roll of cotton or other fiber in a loose, untwisted state
bait made of pieces of small fish
|
New York: narrow high-rise apartment building
|
See also
Verb
sliver (third-person singular simple present slivers, present participle slivering, simple past and past participle slivered)
- (transitive) To cut or divide into long, thin pieces, or into very small pieces; to cut or rend lengthwise; to slit.
- to sliver wood
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
- slips of yew,
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse
- 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:
- They'll sliver thee like a turnip.