Meaning of split In English

• 0 to (cause to) divide into two or more parts, especially along a particular line:

  • The prize was split between Susan and Kate.

  • Split the aubergines in half and cover with breadcrumbs.

  • The teacher split the children (up) into three groups.

  • informal I'll split (= share) this croissant with you.

  • His trousers split when he tried to jump the fence.

  • [ + obj + adj ] The woman had split her head open (= got a long, deep wound in her head) when she was thrown off the horse.

  • The wooden floor had cracked and split in the heat.

  • The childcare issue has split the employers' group.

  • The union executive has split down the middle (= divided into two equal-sized groups who disagree with each other) on what to do next.

  • A group of extremists split (off) from the Labour Party to form a new "Workers Party".

• 1 to tell other people secret and damaging information about someone:

  • They knew Josie wouldn't split on them to the teacher.

• 2 to leave a place

• 3 a long, thin hole in something where it has broken apart:

  • Rain was getting in through a split in the plastic sheeting.

  • There is a widening split between senior managers and the rest of the workforce.

  • The tax issue has caused a split in/within the government.

  • There was a 75/25 split in the voting.

  • Can you do the splits?

  • She does a backward gliding thing when she's doing a split.

• 4 to divide into two or more parts, esp. along a particular line:

  • [ T ] I suggest we split the profits between us.

  • [ T ] The teacher split the class into three groups.

  • [ I ] His pants split when he jumped the fence.

  • [ I ] The movie was boring, so I split.

• 5 a long, thin tear, or a division:

  • There’s a split in this sheet.

  • Peace talks are threatened by a split among rebel leaders.

• 6 to divide or cause to divide into two or more parts:

  • The senior leadership finally concluded that it made sense for the two businesses to split.

  • The roles of chief executive and chairman could be split.

  • split sth between sth It is thought that Mr Snow's job will now be split between general insurance and life insurance.

  • split sth equally/evenly She splits her time equally between work and home.

  • split sth up into sth The corporation was split up into three separate companies.

• 7 if a part of an organization splits or is split from the larger organization, it becomes its own independent organization:

  • split (sth) from sth The Shanghai enterprise split from a joint venture with S.C. Johnson.

  • split sth into sth The electronics division was split off into a freestanding company.

• 8 to divide money in order to share it between people, organizations, or groups:

  • split sth between sb/sth Sales-tax money will be split between the city and the state.

  • The online magazine recorded revenues of $11.5m split equally between subscription fees and advertising.

  • split sth two/three/four, etc. ways We will split the profits three ways.

  • split sth 50-50/60-40/70-30, etc. Let's split the cost 50-50.

• 9 to divide shares of a company into two or more shares with lower value:

  • Some analysts said the company is splitting its stock to gain investors' attention.

• 10 if a group of people or their opinions split or are split, some people have one opinion and others have a different opinion:

  • The ruling party was split on the issue.

  • be split between sb Opinions were split cleanly between workers and managers.

  • split 50-50/55-45/60-40, etc. Shareholders split 55-45 in the vote to install the new CEO.

• 11 to end a relationship:

  • The partners split after working together for fifteen years.

• 12 the act of dividing each of a company's shares into two or more shares:

  • Companies that announce stock splits often see their shares rise before the split as investors anticipate demand.