splint (spl?nt)n.1. A thin piece split off from a larger piece; a splinter.2. a. A rigid device used to prevent motion of a joint or of the ends of a fractured bone.b. 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.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.splint (spl?nt) n1. (Medicine) a rigid support for restricting movement of an injured part, esp a broken bone2. a thin sliver of wood, esp one that is used to light cigars, a fire, etc3. (Furniture) a thin strip of wood woven with others to form a chair seat, basket, etc4. (Veterinary Science) vet science inflammation of the small metatarsal or metacarpal bones along the side of the cannon bone of a horse5. (Arms & Armour (excluding Firearms)) one of the overlapping metal plates used in armour after about 13306. another word for splintervb (Medicine) to apply a splint to (a broken arm, etc)[C13: from Middle Low German splinte; related to Middle Dutch splinte splint, Old High German spaltan to split] ?splint?like adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014splint (spl?nt) n. 1. a thin piece of wood or other rigid material used to immobilize a fractured or dislocated bone, or to maintain any part of the body in a fixed position. 2. one of a number of thin strips of wood woven together to make a chair seat, basket, etc. 3. a bony enlargement of a splint bone of a horse or related animal. 4. a narrow plate or metal strip used in making armor. 5. Brit. Dial. a splinter of wood or stone. v.t. 6. to secure, hold in position, or support by means of a splint, as a fractured bone. 7. to support as if with splints. [1275?1325; Middle English