splint

Etymology

From Middle English splint, splent, splente, from Middle Low German splinte, splente or Middle Dutch splint, splinte. Cognate with Old High German splinza (“bar, bolt, latch”). All ultimately from Proto-Germanic *splintǭ, *splintō (“piece of wood, splinter”), from Proto-Germanic *splint-, *splind- (“to split”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pley- (“to split, splice”).

noun

1. A narrow strip of wood split or peeled from a larger piece.
2. (dentistry) A dental device applied consequent to undergoing orthodontia.
3. (medicine) A device to immobilize a body part.
4. (military, historical) A segment of armour consisting of a narrow overlapping plate.
5. (mining) Synonym of splent coal
6. (zootomy) A bone found on either side of a horse's cannon bone; the second or fourth metacarpal (forelimb) or metatarsal (hindlimb) bone.
7. (zootomy, veterinary medicine) A disease affecting the splint bones, as a callosity or hard excrescence.

verb

1. (transitive) To apply a splint to; to fasten with splints.
2. To support one's abdomen with hands or a pillow before attempting to cough.
3. (obsolete, rare, transitive) To split into thin, slender pieces; to splinter.