[f. SPLIT v.]
1. That has undergone the process of splitting; divided in this manner; riven, cleft.
1648. Hexham, Gespleten klauwen, Split or Cloven Clawes.
1673. Hickeringill, Greg. Father Greyb., 314. Wry faces, mops, mows, split jaws.
1748. Anson’s Voy., II. x. 241. A large split bamboe … as a trough.
1825. Jennings, Obs. Dial. W. Eng., 71. Spars … are commonly made of split willow rods.
1849. Noad, Electricity (ed. 3), 379. To insulate the wire from the hook, a split quill is slipped over the wire, on which it rests.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 468. Tender nodosities or nodes on the shins, from a pea to a split walnut in size.
b. Of a surface: Exposed by splitting.
1715. Leoni, Palladio’s Archit. (1742), I. 8. River-pebbles split in the middle,… laid with the split-side outwards.
1837. P. Keith, Bot. Lex., 121. If a thin slice of one of them is taken from the split surface of the trunk of an Oak or Elm.
1851–4. Tomlinson, Cycl. Arts & Manuf. (1867), II. 34. As the hide is split, one half, which is the split flesh side, passes over the knife; the other half, or the split grain side, continues to adhere to the drum.
1891. W. J. Malden, Tillage, 106. It is not uncommon to throw the split-furrows on to the unploughed land, so that the ridges are not too high.
c. Bot. (See quot.)
1832. Lindley, Introd. Bot., 388. Split (fissus); divided nearly to the base into a determinate number of segments.
2. In various special collocations: a. In designations of apparatus, implements, parts of machinery, or similar objects, as split bandage, cane, chuck, etc.
1846. Brittan, trans. Malgaigne’s Man. Oper. Surg., 202. The soft parts being divided, the utility of a *split bandage in keeping them back is generally allowed.
1843. Holtzapffel, Turning, I. 217. The *split bolster is employed for cutting out long rectangular holes or mortices.
1890. L. C. D’Oyle, Notches, 143. Taking my rod (a light *split-cane) in his hands, he shook it—and grinned.
1892. Photogr. Ann., II. 385. A stand upon the split cane principle. When the ring and bottom fittings are removed, the stick opens out into three pieces.
1830. Mechanic’s Mag., XIII. 50. I call it the *split-chuck, for want of a more appropriate name.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 237. Split chucks were made here many years ago.
1849. Craig, In Surgery, *split-cloth, a bandage for the head, consisting of a central part, and six or eight tails.
1882. Southward, Pract. Printing (1884), 6. Certain fractions are cast in one piece…. If other fractions are needed, they require to be made up with small types, called *split fractions.
1878. Barlow, Weaving, 168. The second [contrivance] is generally used in weaving the richest silks…, and is termed the *split harness.
1843. Holtzapffel, Turning, I. 221. The two parts are previously prepared either to the form of the tongue or *split joint.
1869. Rankine, Machine & Hand-tools, Pl. H 4. A leading screw working in a *split nut beneath the slide rest.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2281/2. *Split-pin. A pin or cotter with a head at one end and a split at the other.
1879. Man. Artill. Exerc., 171. Take out split-pin and unscrew steel pivot out of metal plate.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 237. Separate *split plugs for different sized objects are provided.
1888. Jacobi, Printers’ Vocab., 129. *Split rigger.—Riggers made in two equal portions and screwed together in order to facilitate shifting or changing.
1858. Greener, Gunnery, 316. A novel safety guard;… swivel double like a *split ring.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2281/2. A split-ring has an opening by which keys may be introduced to be strung upon it.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 245. The *Split Seconds … is a form of chronograph in which there are two centre seconds hands, one under the other.
1888. Encycl. Brit., XXIV. 398/1. Watches are also made with what are called split seconds-hands.
b. In miscellaneous uses, as split brilliant, crow, eagle, leather, pea(se, etc.
1850. Holtzapffel, Turning, III. 1332. The *split brilliant … only differs from the full brilliant … in the foundation squares being divided horizontally into two triangular facets.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulgar T., *Split crow, the sign of the spread eagle.
1889. Gretton, Memory’s Harkback, 224. The sign of the Church might well have been the spread or *split eagle.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2281/2. *Split-leather is an inferior article, and is used for light boots and shoes [etc.].
1854. Miss Baker, Northampt. Gloss., *Split-lift, a narrow strip of leather split in two, which forms the lift, or seat of a shoe.
1846. Lindley, Veg. Kingd., 63. Andræaceæ.—*Splitmosses.
1846. *Split-paling [see SPLIT v. 9 c].
1736. Bailey, Household Dict., s.v. Pease, The *split pease do not need it.
1806. A. Hunter, Culina (ed. 3), 39. One pint of split pease.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Split-pease, husked peas, split for making pease-soup or pease-puddings.
1894. A. Robertson, Nuggets, etc. 191. He was as like Pat Kineen … as two split peas are like each other.
1814. W. Brown, Hist. Propag. Chr. (1823), I. 620, note. The name of *split-snake … we considered as descriptive not so much of its split appearance as of the singular sensation occasioned by its bite.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, 194/2. *Split stitch, a stitch much used in ancient Church Embroidery … to work the faces and hands of figures.
1852. Mrs. C. Meredith, My Home in Tasmania, I. 159. *‘Split stuff,’ by which is meant timber … split into ‘posts and rails,’ slabs, or paling.
1852. Mundy, Antipodes (1857), 29. A mile or so of road lined with pretty cottages—pretty although formed only of ‘split stuff.’
1882. Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis Fishes N. Amer., 223. Pogonichthys macrolepidotus, *Split-tail.
1887. J. G. Frazer, Totemism, 10. A remarkable feature of some of these Oraon totems is, that they are not whole animals, but parts of animals…. Such totems may be distinguished as *split totems.
1898. Year-bk. U.S. Dept. Agric., 122. Another new insect … is the so-called tobacco leaf-miner, or *‘split worm.’
3. Separated, divided, parted or apportioned in some way. In special collocations, as split draught, duty, etc.
1871. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., 530. The other flues may be arranged either as a wheel-draught or a *split-draught.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2281/2. Split-draft. (Furnace.) In steam-boilers, when the current of smoke and hot air is divided into two or more flues.
1895. Daily News, 25 June, 6/4. *Split duty, dividing the day’s work into two or more portions, had been a sore point among the London sorters for many years.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 327. Whenever the metal is run off by the tap-hole into the two basins,… called *Split-Hearths.
1839. De la Beche, Rep. Geol. Cornwall, etc. x. 308. Some good examples of *split lodes are to be seen in the Marazion and Breague districts.
1876. Besant & Rice, Gold. Butterfly, iv. 32. The twins were taking their third *split soda—it was brotherly to divide a bottle.
1848. Bartlett, Dict. Amer., 410. It sometimes happens … that individuals … erase one or more of the names and substitute others more to their liking. This is called a *split-ticket [1859 also a scratch ticket].
1872. De Vere, Americanisms, 269–70. At times the party itself is divided into fractions,… and the result of such a split in their own ranks, is a split ticket.
b. Split infinitive: see INFINITIVE sb. 1.
4. With advs., as split-off, -up.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., II. xiv. 148. These split-off lines of ice were evidently in motion.
1880. Agnes Giberne, Sun, Moon & Stars, 294. The split-up rays tell us much more than the kinds of metals in different stars.
b. Split-up, long-legged. slang.
1874. Slang Dict., 304. Split up, long in the legs. Among athletes, a man with good length of limb is said to be ‘well split up.’
1891. Field, 7 March, 334/3. The winner, Grand Fashion, is a leggy, split-up black, but decidedly the best mover of the lot.
5. a. In attrib. combs., as split-mouth sucker, split-oak railing, split-timber house.
1827. P. Cunningham, N. S. Wales, II. 170. In the split-timber houses, a frame is first put up.
1882. Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis Fishes N. Amer., 144. Quassilabia lacera,… Split-mouth Sucker.
1895. Cornish, Wild Eng., 121. The ordinary high split-oak railing.
b. Comb., as split-eared, -nosed, -tongued adjs.
c. 1880. Cassell’s Nat. Hist., IV. 272. The sub-order Fissilingues, the Split-tongued Lizards.
1894. Outing, XXIV. 173/2. I hunted on many horses…, but never on a better than my shaggy, split-eared, one-eyed Whitey.
1900. Westm. Gaz., 12 March, 7/1. An abundance of explosive soft-nosed and split-nosed ammunition.
