splint
noun
- medical restraint to keep body part in place
verb
- support with or as if with a splint
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /splɪnt/
noun
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 a nasalized form of *splītaną (“to split”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pley- (“to split, splice”).
- A narrow strip of wood split or peeled from a larger piece.
- A narrow strip of wood split or peeled from a larger piece.
- A dental device applied consequent to undergoing orthodontia.
- A device to immobilize a body part.
“[...] I saw in the white men's ward that little chap tossing on his back, with his arm in splints, and quite light-headed.”
- A segment of armour consisting of a narrow overlapping plate.
“The fore-part of his thighs, where the folds of his mantle permitted them to be seen, were also covered with linked mail; the knees and feet were defended by splints, or thin plates of steel, ingeniously jointed upon each other; and mail hose, reaching from the ancle to the knee, effectually protected the legs, and completed the rider's defensive armour.”
- Synonym of splent coal.
- A bone found on either side of a horse's cannon bone; the second or fourth metacarpal (forelimb) or metatarsal (hindlimb) bone.
- A disease affecting the splint bones, as a callosity or hard excrescence.
verb
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 a nasalized form of *splītaną (“to split”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pley- (“to split, splice”).
- To apply a splint to; to fasten with splints.
- To support one's abdomen with hands or a pillow before attempting to cough.
- To press fingers against the vaginal wall to ease defecation.
- To split into thin, slender pieces; to splinter.