sliver
noun
- bundle or web of fiber used to spin yarn
verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L333034 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈslɪvə/ / /ˈslɪvɚ/ / /ˈsləvə/
noun
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”)).
- A long piece cut or rent off; a sharp, slender fragment.
“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.”
“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).”
- A long piece cut or rent off; a sharp, slender fragment.
- 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.
- Bait made of pieces of small fish.
- A narrow high-rise apartment building.
- A small amount of something; a drop in the bucket; a shred.
verb
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”)).
- To cut or divide into long, thin pieces, or into very small pieces; to cut or rend lengthwise; to slit.
“to sliver wood”
“slips of yew, Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse”