Take difinite number of word from a string

The following function is for to take a definite number of words from an string:

function take_definite_number_word( $words = 10)
{
     $wordCount = count(explode("",$item->description));      // count by space
     if ($wordCount<$words)
    {
            $adjustedText = $item->description;
     }
     else
    {
          $adjustedText = implode(" ", array_slice(explode(" ",$item->description), 0, $words));
    }
}