Meaning & use
sliver
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Meanings
nouncountable
A very thin, narrow piece cut or broken from something larger, often sharp or delicate.
Grammar: Countable: a sliver of glass, two slivers of cheese.
Patterns
- a sliver of something
- slivers of something
She pulled a sliver of glass out of her foot.
He cut the apple into thin slivers for the salad.
A sliver of light came through the gap under the door.
verbtransitive
To cut or break something into thin, narrow pieces.
Grammar: Takes an object: sliver the almonds.
Patterns
- sliver something
- sliver something into something
Sliver the garlic before adding it to the pan.
The machine slivers the wood into long strips.
Word forms
| plural | slivers |
|---|---|
| third person singular | slivers |
| past tense | slivered |
| past participle | slivered |
| -ing form | slivering |
Common combinations
- a sliver of glass
- The floor was covered with slivers of glass.
- a sliver of light
- A sliver of light shone under the door.
- sliver of hope
- There was still a sliver of hope that they would find survivors.
- cut into slivers
- Cut the ginger into thin slivers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shard
- A shard is usually a broken piece of hard material like glass or pottery, often larger and sharper than a sliver.
- splinter
- A splinter is a tiny, sharp piece of wood, bone, or metal that has broken off, often embedded in skin.
- strip
- A strip is a long, narrow piece, often cut deliberately and not necessarily thin or sharp.
Word family
- slivered adjective
- Cut into thin pieces, as in slivered almonds.
Commonly confused: sliver or splinter?
sliver vs splinter
A splinter is usually a small, sharp piece of wood or bone that gets stuck in your skin, while a sliver can be any thin piece, often of glass or food.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The countable noun 'sliver' needs a plural form or a determiner: 'thin slivers' is correct. 'A slivers' mixes singular and plural, and 'sliver' alone is not used after 'into' without an article or plural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sliver”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.