Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Extremely painful or severe: Describes a headache or pain that is so intense it feels as if one's head is being torn apart.
   • Resembling the sound of violent tearing: Describes a loud, sharp, and sudden sound, like that of something being ripped apart or of lightning striking wood.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • I woke up with a splitting headache and couldn't go to work.
  • The splitting sound of the thunder made the children jump.
  • He let out a splitting roar of anger.

Advanced Usage

• "Splitting headache": This is a very common collocation. It is a fixed phrase used to describe an exceptionally severe headache.
  • The noise from the construction gave me a splitting headache.

Variants and Related Words

• Split (verb): To break or cause to break forcibly into parts, especially into halves or along the grain.
  • He split the log with an axe.
• Split (noun): A tear, crack, or division caused by splitting.
  • There is a split in the seam of my trousers.

Synonyms

• Severe (for pain): intense, agonizing, excruciating.
• Piercing (for sound): sharp, earsplitting, deafening, rending.

Related Idioms

• "Splitting image": (Note: This is a common idiom, though the standard form is "spitting image"). It means an exact likeness.
  • The boy is the splitting image of his father.

Adjective

1. resembling a sound of violent tearing as of something ripped apart or lightning splitting a tree
   • the tree split with a great ripping sound
   • heard a rending roar as the crowd surged forward