splint (splĭnt)
n.

1. A thin piece split off from a larger piece; a splinter.
2. 1. A rigid device used to prevent motion of a joint or of the ends of a fractured bone.
   2. A dental appliance put on the teeth to protect them from grinding or from moving out of place.
3. A thin, flexible wooden strip, such as one used in the making of baskets or chair bottoms.
4. A plate or strip of metal.
5. A bony enlargement of the cannon bone or splint bone of a horse.

tr.v., splint·ed, splint·ing, splints.
To support or restrict with or as if with a splint.

[Middle English, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German splinte.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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