"split the baby" meaning in English

See split the baby in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: splits the baby [present, singular, third-person], splitting the baby [participle, present], split the baby [participle, past], split the baby [past]
Etymology: In reference to the Judgment of Solomon. Head templates: {{en-verb|split<,,split> the baby}} split the baby (third-person singular simple present splits the baby, present participle splitting the baby, simple past and past participle split the baby)
  1. (idiomatic) To resolve a dispute in a way that is disadvantageous to both parties. Wikipedia link: Judgment of Solomon Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: cut the baby in half, saw the baby in half Related terms: Solomonic, split the difference
    Sense id: en-split_the_baby-en-verb-pPRWg0zb Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "In reference to the Judgment of Solomon.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "splits the baby",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "splitting the baby",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "split the baby",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "split the baby",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "split<,,split> the baby"
      },
      "expansion": "split the baby (third-person singular simple present splits the baby, present participle splitting the baby, simple past and past participle split the baby)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012, Sylvester J. Schieber, The Predictable Surprise:",
          "text": "As the proposal evolved, it is clear that the authors tried to split the baby—benefits would be linked to the worker's covered earnings, out of which contributions would be made, but there would be some subsidization.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To resolve a dispute in a way that is disadvantageous to both parties."
      ],
      "id": "en-split_the_baby-en-verb-pPRWg0zb",
      "links": [
        [
          "resolve",
          "resolve"
        ],
        [
          "dispute",
          "dispute"
        ],
        [
          "disadvantageous",
          "disadvantageous"
        ],
        [
          "parties",
          "party"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To resolve a dispute in a way that is disadvantageous to both parties."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "Solomonic"
        },
        {
          "word": "split the difference"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "cut the baby in half"
        },
        {
          "word": "saw the baby in half"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Judgment of Solomon"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "split the baby"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "In reference to the Judgment of Solomon.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "splits the baby",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "splitting the baby",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "split the baby",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "split the baby",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "split<,,split> the baby"
      },
      "expansion": "split the baby (third-person singular simple present splits the baby, present participle splitting the baby, simple past and past participle split the baby)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Solomonic"
    },
    {
      "word": "split the difference"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2012, Sylvester J. Schieber, The Predictable Surprise:",
          "text": "As the proposal evolved, it is clear that the authors tried to split the baby—benefits would be linked to the worker's covered earnings, out of which contributions would be made, but there would be some subsidization.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To resolve a dispute in a way that is disadvantageous to both parties."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "resolve",
          "resolve"
        ],
        [
          "dispute",
          "dispute"
        ],
        [
          "disadvantageous",
          "disadvantageous"
        ],
        [
          "parties",
          "party"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To resolve a dispute in a way that is disadvantageous to both parties."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "cut the baby in half"
        },
        {
          "word": "saw the baby in half"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Judgment of Solomon"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "split the baby"
}

Download raw JSONL data for split the baby meaning in English (1.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.