Word.ws English Dictionary

splitting the difference

splitting the difference is the present participle and gerund of split the difference.

Meaning of split the difference

Verb

split the difference (third-person singular simple present splits the difference, present participle splitting the difference, simple past and past participle split the difference)

  1. In a financial transaction, to settle on an amount midway between the offer and the asking price.
    • "Come!" said Gamfield; "say four pound, gen'lmen. Say four pound, and you've got rid on him for good and all. There!"
      "Three pound ten," repeated Mr. Limbkins, firmly.
      "Come! I'll split the difference, gen'lmen," urged Gamfield. "Three pound fifteen."1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], chapter 3, in Oliver Twist; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    meet halfway
  2. (broadly, idiomatic) To choose an option or take a position roughly midway between two opposed alternatives; to compromise.
    • Dolly suggested that they should meet at the club at 4 p.m. Sir Felix had named noon, and promised to call at Dolly's lodgings. They split the difference at last and agreed to start at two.1873 May 1 – December 22 (date written), Anthony Trollope, chapter 28, in The Way We Live Now. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published June 1875, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    meet halfway

Questions about splitting the difference

What is splitting the difference the present participle and gerund of?
Splitting the difference is the present participle and gerund of split the difference.

Words near splitting the difference in the dictionary

  1. splitting on a rock
  2. splitting one's sides
  3. splitting the baby
  4. splitting the blanket
  5. splitting the breeze
  6. splitting the difference
  7. splitting the G
  8. splitting the house
  9. splitting the sheets
  10. splitting up
  11. splittingly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: splitting the difference (page history and authors); split the difference (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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