splitting

Etymology

noun

1. An instance where something splits.
2. (psychology) A division in the mind, or affecting one's sense of self.
   In other words, something troubling, such as being discovered in the toilets in a shaming way, can be both remembered and also pushed to the periphery of consciousness, a process that psychotherapists refer to as ‘splitting’. 2007, Brett Kahr, Sex and the Psyche, Penguin, published 2008, page 308
3. (chemistry) The cleavage of a covalent bond.

adj

1. Resembling the sound of something being split or ripped.
2. Very rapid.
   They moved at a splitting pace.
3. Severely painful.
   I have a splitting headache.

verb

1. present participle and gerund of split