splitter n
1 1984 KELLAND 152 The curved blade enabled the splitter, when he severed the back bone, to raise it easily and lessened the danger of slicing off portions of the fleshy part which could spoil fish for marketing purposes. 1988 Evening Telegram 18 May, p. 19 The colorful terms cut-throater, header and splitter were the names applied to people who carried out the first three steps in the processing of fish.
2 Also: in hoop-making, the froe used to split saplings.
1981 SPARKES xiv The hoopmaker's trade was one of great skill... The froe, sometimes called splitter or cleaver, used to split the sapling lengthwise, was often a bit of hard wood with a bevelled edge covered with tin from an old tin can.
