sliver

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”)).

noun

1. A long piece cut or rent off; a sharp, slender fragment; a splinter.
   This is the tasting ritual, the lay Eucharist of cheese. The buyer squeezes the sliver of cheese between his fingers to test its consistency, sniffs it, and then tastes it as delicately as if it were the most subtle caviar. 1972, Félix Martí-Ibáñez, The mirror of souls, and other essays, page 339
   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). 2013, J. M. Coetzee, chapter 27, in The Childhood of Jesus, Melbourne, Australia: The Text Publishing Company, page 270
   1. (regional US) Specifically, a splinter caught under the skin.
2. 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.
3. (fishing) Bait made of pieces of small fish. Compare kibblings.
4. (US, New York) A narrow high-rise apartment building.
5. A small amount of something; a drop in the bucket; a shred.

verb

1. (transitive) To cut or divide into long, thin pieces, or into very small pieces; to cut or rend lengthwise; to slit.
   to sliver wood