Spermatozoid noun [ Spermatozoön + Greek ......... form.] (Biol.) The male germ cell in animals and plants, the essential element in fertilization; a microscopic animalcule-like particle, usually provided with one or more cilia by which it is capable of active motion. In animals, the familiar type is that of a small, more or less ovoid head, with a delicate threadlike cilium, or tail. Called also spermatozoön . In plants the more usual term is antherozoid .

Spermatozooid noun (Biol.) A spermatozoid.

Spermatozoön noun ; plural Spermatozoa . [ New Latin , from Greek ........., sperm + ......... an animal.] (Biol.) Same as Spermatozoid .

Spermic adjective Of or pertaining to sperm, or semen.

Spermidium noun ; plural Spermidia . [ Nl., from Greek spe`rma seed.] (Botany) An achenium.

Spermism noun [ Greek ... seed, sperm + -ism .] (Biol.) The theory, formerly held by many, that the sperm or spermatozoön contains the germ of the future embryo; animalculism.

Spermist noun (Biol.) A believer in the doctrine, formerly current, of encasement in the male (see Encasement ), in which the seminal thread, or spermatozoid, was considered as the real animal germ, the head being the true animal head and the tail the body.

Spermoblast noun [ Spermo- + -blast .] (Physiol.) One of the cells formed by the division of the spermospore, each of which is destined to become a spermatozoid; a spermatocyte; a spermatoblast.

Spermococcus noun [ New Latin See Spermo- , and Coccus .] (Physiol.) The nucleus of the sperm cell.

Spermoderm noun [ Spermo- + derm : confer French spermoderme .] (Botany) The covering of a seed; -- sometimes limited to the outer coat or testa. Lindley.

Spermogonium noun [ New Latin ; spermo- + Greek ......... offspring.] (Botany) A conceptacle of certain lichens, which contains spermatia.

Spermologist noun [ Greek ............... picking up seeds; spe`rma sperm, seed + ............ to gather.] One who treats of, or collects, seeds. Bailey.

Spermophile noun [ Greek spe`rma a seed + fi`los loving, fond.] (Zoology) Any ground squirrel of the genus Spermophilus ; a gopher. See Illust. under Gopher .

Spermophore noun (Zoology) A spermatophore.

Spermophyta noun plural [ Nl., from Greek spe`rma a seed + fyto`n a plant.] Plants which produce seed; phænogamia. These plants constitute the highest grand division of the vegetable kingdom.

Spermophyte noun (Botany) Any plant which produces true seeds; -- a term recently proposed to replace phænogam .

Spermophytic adjective (Botany) Capable of producing seeds; phænogamic.

Spermoplasma noun [ New Latin See Spermo- , and Plasma .] (Physiol.) The protoplasm of the sperm cell. Haeckel.

Spermosphere noun [ Spermo- + sphere .] (Physiol.) A mass or ball of cells formed by the repeated division of a male germinal cell (spermospore), each constituent cell (spermoblast) of which is converted into a spermatozoid; a spermatogemma.

Spermospore noun [ Spermo- + spore .] (Physiol.) The male germinal or seminal cell, from the breaking up of which the spermoblasts are formed and ultimately the spermatozoids; a spermatospore. Balfour.

Spermule noun [ Dim. from sperm .] (Physiol.) A sperm cell. Haeckel.

Sperrylite noun [ Named after F. Latin Sperry , who discovered it.] (Min.) An arsenide of platinum occuring in grains and minute isometric crystals of tin-white color. It is found near Sudbury, Ontario Canada, and is the only known compound of platinum occuring in nature.

Sperse transitive verb To disperse. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Spessartite noun [ From Spessart , in Germany.] (Min.) A manganesian variety of garnet.

Spet transitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon sp...tan . See Spit .] To spit; to throw out. [ Obsolete]

Spet noun Spittle. [ Obsolete]

Spetches noun plural Parings and refuse of hides, skins, etc., from which glue is made.

Spew transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Spewed ; present participle& verbal noun Spewing .] [ Middle English spewen , speowen , Anglo-Saxon spīwan ;n to Dutch spuwen to spit. OS & Old High German spīwan , German speien , Icelandic sp...ja to spew, Swedish spy , Danish spye , Goth. spiewan , th. spjauti , Latin spuere to split, Greek ........., Sanskrit shtiv , shthīv . Confer Pyke , Spit .] [ Written also spue .]
1. To eject from the stomach; to vomit.

2. To cast forth with abhorrence or disgust; to eject.

Because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.

Rev. ii. 16.

Spew intransitive verb
1. To vomit. Chaucer.

2. To eject seed, as wet land swollen with frost.

Spew noun That which is vomited; vomit.

Spewer noun One who spews.

Spewiness noun The state of being spewy.

Spewy adjective Wet; soggy; inclined to spew.

Sphacel noun [ Greek .........: confer French sphacèle .] (Medicine) Gangrene.

Sphacelate intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Sphacelated ; present participle & verbal noun Sphacelating .] [ New Latin sphacelare , sphacelatum , mortify: confer French sphacéler . See Sphacelus .] (Medicine) To die, decay, or become gangrenous, as flesh or bone; to mortify.

Sphacelate transitive verb (Medicine) To affect with gangrene.

Sphacelate, Sphacelated adjective (Medicine) Affected with gangrene; mortified.

Sphacelation noun (Medicine) The process of becoming or making gangrenous; mortification.

Sphacelus noun [ New Latin , from Greek .............] (Medicine) Gangrenous part; gangrene; slough.

Sphagnicolous adjective [ Sphagnum + Latin colere to inhabit.] (Botany) Growing in moss of the genus Sphagnum .

Sphagnous adjective (Botany) Pertaining to moss of the genus Sphagnum , or bog moss; abounding in peat or bog moss.

Sphagnum noun [ New Latin , fr/ Greek ......... a kind of moss.] (Botany) A genus of mosses having white leaves slightly tinged with red or green and found growing in marshy places; bog moss; peat moss.

Sphalerite noun [ Greek ......... slippery, uncertain. See Blende .] (Min.) Zinc sulphide; -- called also blende , black-jack , false galena , etc. See Blende (a) .

Sphene noun [ French sphène , from Greek sfh`n a wedge.] (Min.) A mineral found usually in thin, wedge-shaped crystals of a yellow or green to black color. It is a silicate of titanium and calcium; titanite.

Sphenethmoid adjective [ Sphen oid + ethmoid .] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to both the sphenoidal and the ethmoidal regions of the skull, or the sphenethmoid bone; sphenethmoidal.

Sphenethmoid bone (Anat.) , a bone of the skull which surrounds the anterior end of the brain in many amphibia; the girdle bone.

Sphenethmoid noun (Anat.) The sphenethmoid bone.

Sphærenchyma noun [ New Latin , from Greek ......... sphere + -enchyma as in parenchima .] (Botany) Vegetable tissue composed of thin-walled rounded cells, -- a modification of parenchyma.

Sphæridium noun ; plural Sphæridia . [ New Latin , from Greek ......... a sphere.] (Zoology) A peculiar sense organ found upon the exterior of most kinds of sea urchins, and consisting of an oval or sherical head surmounting a short pedicel. It is generally supposed to be an olfactory organ.

Sphærospore noun [ Greek ............ sphere + English spore .] (Botany) One of the nonsexual spores found in red algæ; a tetraspore.

Sphærulite noun (Min.) Same as Spherulite .