Speed Speed noun [ Anglo-Saxon sp...d success, swiftness, from sp...wan to succeed; akin to Dutch spoed d, Old High German spuot success, spuot to succees, Sanskrit sphā to increase, grow fat. √170 b. ] 1. Prosperity in an undertaking; favorable issue; success. "For common speed ." Chaucer.

O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day.

Gen. xxiv. 12.

2. The act or state of moving swiftly; swiftness; velocity; rapidly; rate of motion; dispatch; as, the speed a horse or a vessel.

Speed , to describe whose swiftness number fails.

Milton.

» In kinematics, speed is sometimes used to denote the amount of velocity without regard to direction of motion, while velocity is not regarded as known unless both the direction and the amount are known.

3. One who, or that which, causes or promotes speed or success. [ Obsolete] "Hercules be thy speed !" Shak.

God speed , Good speed; prosperity. See Godspeed . -- Speed gauge , Speed indicator , & Speed recorder (Machinery) , devices for indicating or recording the rate of a body's motion, as the number of revolutions of a shaft in a given time. -- Speed lathe (Machinery) , a power lathe with a rapidly revolving spindle, for turning small objects, for polishing, etc.; a hand lathe. -- Speed pulley , a cone pulley with steps.

Syn. -- Haste; swiftness; celerity; quickness; dispatch; expedition; hurry; acceleration. See Haste .

Speed Speed (spēd) intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Sped (spĕd), Speeded ; present participle & verbal noun Speeding .] [ Anglo-Saxon spēdan , from spēd , noun ; akin to Dutch spoeden , G. sich sputen . See Speed , noun ] 1. To go; to fare. [ Obsolete]

To warn him now he is too farre sped .

Remedy of Love.

2. To experience in going; to have any condition, good or ill; to fare. Shak.

Ships heretofore in seas like fishes sped ;
The mightiest still upon the smallest fed.

Waller.

3. To fare well; to have success; to prosper.

Save London, and send true lawyers their meed!
For whoso wants money with them shall not speed !

Lydgate.

I told ye then he should prevail, and speed
On his bad errand.

Milton.

4. To make haste; to move with celerity.

I have speeded hither with the very extremest inch of possibility.

Shak.

5. To be expedient. [ Obsolete] Wyclif (2 Cor. xii. 1.)

Speed Speed transitive verb 1. To cause to be successful, or to prosper; hence, to aid; to favor. "Fortune speed us!" Shak.

With rising gales that speed their happy flight.

Dryden.

2. To cause to make haste; to dispatch with celerity; to drive at full speed; hence, to hasten; to hurry.

He sped him thence home to his habitation.

Fairfax.

3. To hasten to a conclusion; to expedite.

Judicial acts . . . are sped in open court at the instance of one or both of the parties.

Ayliffe.

4. To hurry to destruction; to put an end to; to ruin; to undo. " Sped with spavins." Shak.

A dire dilemma! either way I 'm sped .
If foes, they write, if friends, they read, me dead.

Pope.

5. To wish success or god fortune to, in any undertaking, especially in setting out upon a journey.

Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.

Pope.

God speed you , them , etc., may God speed you; or, may you have good speed.

Syn. -- To dispatch; hasten; expedite; accelerate; hurry.

Speed counter Speed counter (Machinery) A device for automatically counting the revolutions or pulsations of an engine or other machine; -- called also simply counter .

Speeder Speed"er noun 1. One who, or that which, speeds.

2. (Spinning) A machine for drawing and twisting slivers to form rovings.

Speedful Speed"ful adjective Full of speed (in any sense). [ Obsolete]

Speedfully Speed"fulˇly adverb In a speedful manner. [ Obsolete]

Speedily Speed"iˇly adverb In a speedy manner.

Speediness Speed"iˇness noun The quality or state of being speedy.

Speedless Speed"less adjective Being without speed.

Speedwell Speed"well noun (Botany) Any plant of the genus Veronica , mostly low herbs with pale blue corollas, which quickly fall off.

Speedy Speed"y (-ȳ) adjective [ Compar. Speedier ; superl. Speediest .] [ Anglo-Saxon spēdyg .] Not dilatory or slow; quick; swift; nimble; hasty; rapid in motion or performance; as, a speedy flight; on speedy foot.

I will wish her speedy strength.

Shak.

Darts, which not the good could shun,
The speedy ould outfly.

Dryden.

Speer Speer noun A sphere. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Speer Speer transitive verb To ask. [ Scot.] See Spere .

Speet Speet transitive verb [ Confer Dutch speten . See Spit an iron prong.] To stab. [ Obsolete] Gammer Gurton's Needle.

Speight Speight noun [ German specht , probably akin to Latin picus : confer Dutch specht . √169. See Pie a magpie.] (Zoology) A woodpecker; -- called also specht , spekt , spight . [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng.]

Speir Speir intransitive verb To ask. See Spere . Sir W. Scott.

Speiskobalt Speis`ko"balt noun [ G.] Smaltite.

Speiss Speiss noun [ Confer German speise food, mixed metal for bells, etc.] (Metal.) A regulus consisting essentially of nickel, obtained as a residue in fusing cobalt and nickel ores with silica and sodium carbonate to make smalt.

Speiss Speiss noun (Metal.) Impure metallic arsenides, principally of iron, produced in copper and lead smelting.

Spekboom Spek"boom noun [ Dutch, lit. fat tree.] (Botany) The purslane tree of South Africa, -- said to be the favorite food of elephants. Balfour (Cyc. of India).

Speke Speke intransitive verb & t. To speak. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Spekehouse Speke"house` noun The parlor or reception room of a convent. [ Obsolete]

Spelding Spel"ding noun [ Scot. speld to spread out, spelder to split. spread open; confer German spalten split.] A haddock or other small fish split open and dried in the sun; -- called also speldron . [ Scot.]

Spelicans Spel"iˇcans noun plural See Spilikin .

Spelk Spelk noun [ Anglo-Saxon spelc , spilc , a little rod by which a thing is kept straight, a splint for binding up broken bones, akin to Icelandic spelkur , plural, a splint. Confer Spell a splinter.] A small stick or rod used as a spike in thatching; a splinter. [ Prov. Eng.] Grose.

Spell Spell noun [ Middle English speld , Anglo-Saxon speld a spill to light a candle with; akin to Dutch speld a pin, OD. spelle , German spalten to split, Old High German spaltan , Middle High German spelte a splinter, Icelandic spjald a square tablet, Goth. spilda a writing tablet. Confer Spill splinter, roll of paper, Spell to tell the letters of.] A spelk, or splinter. [ Obsolete] Holland.

Spell Spell transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Spelled ; present participle & verbal noun Spelling .] [ Anglo-Saxon spelian to supply another's place.] To supply the place of for a time; to take the turn of, at work; to relieve; as, to spell the helmsman.

Spell Spell noun 1. The relief of one person by another in any piece of work or watching; also, a turn at work which is carried on by one person or gang relieving another; as, a spell at the pumps; a spell at the masthead.

A spell at the wheel is called a trick.

Ham. Nav. Encyc.

2. The time during which one person or gang works until relieved; hence, any relatively short period of time, whether a few hours, days, or weeks.

Nothing new has happened in this quarter, except the setting in of a severe spell of cold weather.

Washington.

3. One of two or more persons or gangs who work by spells. [ R.]

Their toil is so extreme that they can not endure it above four hours in a day, but are succeeded by spells .

Garew.

4. A gratuitous helping forward of another's work; as, a logging spell . [ Local, U.S.]

Spell Spell noun [ Anglo-Saxon spell a saying, tale, speech; akin to Old Saxon & Old High German spel , Icelandic spjall ,Goth. spill . Confer Gospel , Spell to tell the letters of.] 1. A story; a tale. [ Obsolete] "Hearken to my spell ." Chaucer.

2. A stanza, verse, or phrase supposed to be endowed with magical power; an incantation; hence, any charm.

Start not; her actions shall be holy as
You hear my spell is lawful.

Shak.

Spell Spell transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Spelled or Spelt ; present participle & verbal noun Spelling .] [ Middle English spellen , spellien , tell, relate, Anglo-Saxon spellian , from spell a saying, tale; akin to Middle High German spellen to relate, Goth. spill...n .e Spell a tale. In sense 4 and those following, Middle English spellen , perhaps originally a different word, and from or influenced by spell a splinter, from the use of a piece of wood to point to the letters in schools: confer Dutch spellen to spell. Confer Spell splinter.] 1. To tell; to relate; to teach. [ Obsolete]

Might I that legend find,
By fairies spelt in mystic rhymes.

T. Warton.

2. To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm. " Spelled with words of power." Dryden.

He was much spelled with Eleanor Talbot.

Sir G. Buck.

3. To constitute; to measure. [ Obsolete]

The Saxon heptarchy, when seven kings put together did spell but one in effect.

Fuller.

4. To tell or name in their proper order letters of, as a word; to write or print in order the letters of, esp. the proper letters; to form, as words, by correct orthography.

The word "satire" ought to be spelled with i , and not with y .

Dryden.

5. To discover by characters or marks; to read with difficulty; -- usually with out ; as, to spell out the sense of an author; to spell out a verse in the Bible.

To spell out a God in the works of creation.

South.

To sit spelling and observing divine justice upon every accident.

Milton.

Spell Spell intransitive verb 1. To form words with letters, esp. with the proper letters, either orally or in writing.

When what small knowledge was, in them did dwell,
And he a god, who could but read or spell .

Dryden.

2. To study by noting characters; to gain knowledge or learn the meaning of anything, by study. [ Obsolete]

Where I may sit and rightly spell
Of every star that heaven doth shew,
And every herb that sips the dew.

Milton.

Spellable Spell"aˇble adjective Capable of being spelt. Carlyle.

Spellbind Spell"bind` transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Spellbound ; present participle & verbal noun Spellbinding .] To bind or hold by, or as if by, a spell or charm; to fascinate, esp. by eloquence of speech, as in a political campaign. -- Spell"bind`er noun

Spellbound Spell"bound` adjective Bound by, or as by, a spell.

Speller Spell"er noun 1. One who spells.

2. A spelling book. [ U. S.]

Spellful Spell"ful adjective Abounding in spells, or charms.

Here, while his eyes the learned leaves peruse,
Each spellful mystery explained he views.

Hoole.

Spelling Spell"ing noun The act of one who spells; formation of words by letters; orthography.

Spelling Spell"ing adjective Of or pertaining to spelling.

Spelling bee , a spelling match. [ U.S.] - - Spelling book , a book with exercises for teaching children to spell; a speller. -- Spelling match , a contest of skill in spelling words, between two or more persons.

Spellken Spell"ken noun A theater. [ Slang] Byron.

Spellwork Spell"work` noun Power or effect of magic; that which is wrought by magic; enchantment.

Like those Peri isles of light
That hang by spellwork in the air.

Moore.

Spelt Spelt imperfect & past participle of Spell . Spelled.

Spelt Spelt noun [ Anglo-Saxon spelt , from Latin spelta .] (Botany) A species of grain ( Triticum Spelta ) much cultivated for food in Germany and Switzerland; -- called also German wheat .

Spelt Spelt noun [ See Spalt .] (Metal.) Spelter. [ Colloq.]

Spelt Spelt transitive verb & i. [ See Spell a splinter.] To split; to break; to spalt. [ Obsolete] Mortimer.

Spelter Spel"ter noun [ Confer LG. spialter , G. & Dutch spiauter . Confer Pewter .] (Metal.) Zinc; -- especially so called in commerce and arts.

Spelunc Speˇlunc" noun [ Latin spelunca cave.] A cavern; a cave. [ Obsolete] Piers Plowman.

Spence Spence noun [ Old French despense , French dépense , buffet, buttery, from Old French despendre to spend, distribute, Latin dispendere , dispensum . See Dispense , Spend .] 1. A place where provisions are kept; a buttery; a larder; a pantry.

In . . . his spence , or "pantry" were hung the carcasses of a sheep or ewe, and two cows lately slaughtered.

Sir W. Scott.

Bluff Harry broke into the spence ,
And turned the cowls adrift.

Tennyson.

2. The inner apartment of a country house; also, the place where the family sit and eat. [ Scot.] Jamieson.

Spencer Spen"cer noun [ Old French despensier . See Spence , and confer Dispenser .] One who has the care of the spence, or buttery. [ Obsolete] Promptorium Parvulorum.

Spencer Spen"cer noun [ From the third Earl Spencer , who first wore it, or brought it into fashion.] A short jacket worn by men and by women. Ld. Lutton.

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