splint

noun

1. A narrow strip of wood split or peeled from a larger piece.
2. (West-Midlands)A narrow strip of wood split or peeled from a larger piece.
3. A dental device applied consequent to undergoing orthodontia.
4. 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.”

5. (historical)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.”

6. Synonym of splent coal.
7. A bone found on either side of a horse's cannon bone; the second or fourth metacarpal (forelimb) or metatarsal (hindlimb) bone.
8. A disease affecting the splint bones, as a callosity or hard excrescence.

verb

1. (transitive)To apply a splint to; to fasten with splints.
2. To support one's abdomen with hands or a pillow before attempting to cough.
3. To press fingers against the vaginal wall to ease defecation.
4. (obsolete, rare, transitive)To split into thin, slender pieces; to splinter.