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Synonyms

split second

American  

noun

  1. a fraction of a second.

  2. an infinitesimal amount of time; instant; twinkling.

split second British  

noun

  1. an extremely small period of time; instant

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. made or arrived at in an infinitely short time

    a split-second decision

  2. depending upon minute precision

    split-second timing
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
split second Idioms  

  1. An instant, a fraction of a second, as in Our best swimmer came in a split second before theirs. This expression alludes to a stop watch that has two second hands, one above the other, for timing more than one athlete or intervals of a race by a single athlete. Each hand can be stopped independently of the other, so a second can be “split” when one second hand stops a fraction of a second after the other. [c. 1880]

Other Word Forms

  • split-second adjective

Etymology

Origin of split second

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

These monumental changes arrived in a split second, and I’ve replayed the fall in my mind countless times.

From The Wall Street Journal

The snowbank blinked, or maybe twinkled for a split second.

From Literature

“You could go through a time warp, and stay in the other time for thirty years, and then return just a split second after you left.”

From Literature

Thunder cracked, and lightning streaked across the sky like a celestial tree revealing its branches for a split second.

From Literature

The bus starts up and for a split second the wind seems to drown out the voices.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.