Definition of turnbuckle. : a device that usually consists of a link with screw threads at both ends, that is turned to bring the ends closer together, and that is used for tightening a rod or stay.
Such splintering had not yet led to formal party organization, but later the faction led by Andrew Jackson would evolve into the Democratic Party, while the factions led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay would become the National Republican Party and later the Whig Party.
Another group was the Democratic Conservatives, who opposed their party's financial policies after 1836. Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were the unquestioned luminaries of the Whig Party. Neither was able to overcome sectional jealousies and gain the coveted presidency.