Spout Spout noun [ Confer Swedish
spruta a squirt, a syringe. See
Spout ,
transitive verb ]
1. That through which anything spouts; a discharging lip, pipe, or orifice; a tube, pipe, or conductor of any kind through which a liquid is poured, or by which it is conveyed in a stream from one place to another; as, the spout of a teapot; a spout for conducting water from the roof of a building. Addison. "A conduit with three issuing
spouts ."
Shak. In whales . . . an ejection thereof [ water] is contrived by a fistula, or spout , at the head.
Sir T. Browne. From silver spouts the grateful liquors glide.
Pope. 2. A trough for conducting grain, flour, etc., into a receptacle. 3. A discharge or jet of water or other liquid, esp. when rising in a column; also, a waterspout. To put ,
shove , or
pop ,
up the spout ,
to pawn or pledge at a pawnbroker's; -- in allusion to the spout up which the pawnbroker sent the ticketed articles. [ Cant]
Spouter Spout"er noun One who, or that which, spouts.
Spoutfish Spout"fish noun (Zoology) A marine animal that spouts water; -- applied especially to certain bivalve mollusks, like the long clams ( Mya ), which spout, or squirt out, water when retiring into their holes.
Spoutless Spout"less adjective Having no spout. Cowper.
Spoutshell Spout"shell` noun (Zoology) Any marine gastropod shell of the genus Apporhais having an elongated siphon. See Illust. under Rostrifera .
Sprack Sprack adjective [ Confer Icelandic
sprækr sprightly, dial. Swedish
spräk ,
spräg , spirited, mettlesome; or Gael.
spraic vigor.]
Quick; lively; alert. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
Sprad Sprad obsolete
past participle of Spread . Chaucer.
Spradde Sprad"de obsolete
imperfect of Spread . Chaucer.
Sprag Sprag noun [ Confer Icelandic
spraka a small flounder.]
(Zoology) A young salmon. [ Prov. Eng.]
Sprag Sprag noun [ See
Spray a branch.]
A billet of wood; a piece of timber used as a prop.
Sprag Sprag transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Spragged ;
present participle & verbal noun Spragging .]
1. To check the motion of, as a carriage on a steep grade, by putting a sprag between the spokes of the wheel. R. S. Poole. 2. To prop or sustain with a sprag.
Sprag Sprag adjective See Sprack , adjective Shak.
Sprain Sprain transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Sprained ;
present participle & verbal noun Spraining .] [ Old French
espreindre to press, to force out, French
épreindre , from Latin
exprimere . See
Express ,
transitive verb , and confer
Spraints .]
To weaken, as a joint, ligament, or muscle, by sudden and excessive exertion, as by wrenching; to overstrain, or stretch injuriously, but without luxation; as, to sprain one's ankle.
Sprain Sprain noun The act or result of spraining; lameness caused by spraining; as, a bad sprain of the wrist. Sprain fracture (Medicine) ,
the separation of a tendon from its point of insertion, with the detachment of a shell of bone to which the tendon is attached.
Spraints Spraints noun plural [ Old French
espraintes ,
espreintes , French
épreintes from
espreinte a desire to go to stool, from
espreindre . See
Sprain ,
transitive verb ]
The dung of an otter.
Sprang Sprang imperfect of Spring .
Sprat Sprat noun [ Middle English
sprot ,
sprotte , Dutch
sprot ; akin to German
sprotte .]
(Zoology) (a) A small European herring ( Clupea sprattus ) closely allied to the common herring and the pilchard; -- called also garvie . The name is also applied to small herring of different kinds. (b) A California surf-fish ( Rhacochilus toxotes ); -- called also alfione , and perch . Sprat borer (Zoology) ,
the red- throated diver; -- so called from its fondness for sprats. See Diver . --
Sprat loon .
(Zoology) (a) The young of the great northern diver . [ Prov. Eng.]
(b) The red- throated diver. See Diver . --
Sprat mew (Zoology) ,
the kittiwake gull.
Sprawl Sprawl (spral)
intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Sprawled (sprald);
present participle & verbal noun Sprawling .] [ Middle English
spraulen ; confer Swedish
sprattla to sprawl, dial. Swedish
spralla , Danish
spælle ,
sprælde , Dutch
spartelen ,
spertelen , to flounder, to struggle.]
1. To spread and stretch the body or limbs carelessly in a horizontal position; to lie with the limbs stretched out ungracefully. 2. To spread irregularly, as vines, plants, or tress; to spread ungracefully, as chirography. 3. To move, when lying down, with awkward extension and motions of the limbs; to scramble in creeping. The birds were not fledged; but upon sprawling and struggling to get clear of the flame, down they tumbled.
L'Estrange.
Sprawls Sprawls noun plural Small branches of a tree; twigs; sprays. [ Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
Spray Spray (sprā)
noun [ Confer Danish
sprag . See
Sprig .]
1. A small shoot or branch; a twig. Chaucer. The painted birds, companions of the spring,
Hopping from spray , were heard to sing.
Dryden. 2. A collective body of small branches; as, the tree has a beautiful spray . And from the trees did lop the needless spray .
Spenser. 3. (Founding) (a) A side channel or branch of the runner of a flask, made to distribute the metal in all parts of the mold. (b) A group of castings made in the same mold and connected by sprues formed in the runner and its branches. Knight. Spray drain (Agriculture) ,
a drain made by laying under earth the sprays or small branches of trees, which keep passages open.
Spray Spray noun [ probably from a Dutch or Low German form akin to English
spread . See
Spread ,
transitive verb ]
1. Water flying in small drops or particles, as by the force of wind, or the dashing of waves, or from a waterfall, and the like. 2. (Medicine) (a) A jet of fine medicated vapor, used either as an application to a diseased part or to charge the air of a room with a disinfectant or a deodorizer. (b) An instrument for applying such a spray; an atomizer. Spray condenser (Steam Engine) an injection condenser in which the steam is condensed by a spray of water which mingles with it.
Spray Spray transitive verb 1. To let fall in the form of spray. [ Poetic]
M. Arnold. 2. To throw spray upon; to treat with a liquid in the form of spray; as, to spray a wound, or a surgical instrument, with carbolic acid.
Sprayboard Spray`board noun (Nautical) See Dashboard , noun , 2 (b) .
Sprayboard Spray"board` noun (Nautical) A screen raised above any part of the gunwale of a boat to keep out spray.
Sprayer Spray"er noun One that sprays; any instrument for vaporizing and spraying liquids.
Spread Spread transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Spread ;
present participle & verbal noun Spreading .] [ Middle English
spreden , Anglo-Saxon
sprædan ; akin to Dutch
spreiden ,
spreijen , LG.
spreden ,
spreen ,
spreien , German
spreiten , Danish
sprede , Swedish
sprida . Confer
Spray water flying in drops.]
1. To extend in length and breadth, or in breadth only; to stretch or expand to a broad or broader surface or extent; to open; to unfurl; as, to spread a carpet; to spread a tent or a sail. He bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent.
Gen. xxxiii. 19. Here the Rhone
Hath spread himself a couch.
Byron. 2. To extend so as to cover something; to extend to a great or grater extent in every direction; to cause to fill or cover a wide or wider space. Rose, as in a dance, the stately trees, and spread
Their branches hung with copious fruit.
Milton. 3. To divulge; to publish, as news or fame; to cause to be more extensively known; to disseminate; to make known fully; as, to spread a report; -- often acompanied by abroad . They, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.
Matt. ix. 31. 4. To propagate; to cause to affect great numbers; as, to spread a disease. 5. To diffuse, as emanations or effluvia; to emit; as, odoriferous plants spread their fragrance. 6. To strew; to scatter over a surface; as, to spread manure; to spread lime on the ground. 7. To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions; as, to spread a table. Boiled the flesh, and spread the board.
Tennyson. To spread cloth ,
to unfurl sail. [ Obsolete]
Evelyn. Syn. -- To diffuse; propogate; disperse; publish; distribute; scatter; circulate; disseminate; dispense.
Spread Spread intransitive verb 1. To extend in length and breadth in all directions, or in breadth only; to be extended or stretched; to expand. Plants, if they spread much, are seldom tall.
Bacon. Governor Winthrop, and his associates at Charlestown, had for a church a large, spreading tree.
B. Trumbull. 2. To be extended by drawing or beating; as, some metals spread with difficulty. 3. To be made known more extensively, as news. 4. To be propagated from one to another; as, the disease spread into all parts of the city. Shak.
Spread Spread noun 1. Extent; compass. I have got a fine spread of improvable land.
Addison. 2. Expansion of parts. No flower hath spread like that of the woodbine.
Bacon. 3. A cloth used as a cover for a table or a bed. 4. A table, as spread or furnished with a meal; hence, an entertainment of food; a feast. [ Colloq.]
5. A privilege which one person buys of another, of demanding certain shares of stock at a certain price, or of delivering the same shares of stock at another price, within a time agreed upon. [ Broker's Cant]
6. (Geom.) An unlimited expanse of discontinuous points.
Spread Spread imperfect & past participle of Spread , v. Spread eagle .
(a) An eagle with outspread wings, the national emblem of the United States. (b) The figure of an eagle, with its wings elevated and its legs extended; often met as a device upon military ornaments, and the like .
(c) (Her.) An eagle displayed; an eagle with the wings and legs extended on each side of the body, as in the double-headed eagle of Austria and Russia. See Displayed , 2.
Spread Spread noun 1. An arbitrage transaction operated by buying and selling simultaneously in two separate markets, as Chicago and New York, when there is an abnormal difference in price between the two markets. It is called a back spread when the difference in price is less than the normal one. 2. (Gems) Surface in proportion to the depth of a cut stone.
Spread-eagle Spread"-ea`gle adjective Characterized by a pretentious, boastful, exaggerated style; defiantly or extravagantly bombastic; as, a spread-eagle orator; a spread-eagle speech. [ Colloq.& Humorous]
Spreader Spread"er noun 1. One who, or that which, spreads, expands, or propogates. 2. A machine for combining and drawing fibers of flax to form a sliver preparatory to spinning.
Spreadingly Spread"ing·ly adverb Increasingly. The best times were spreadingly infected.
Milton.
Sprechery Sprech"er·y noun [ Confer Gael.
spreidh cattle.]
Movables of an inferior description; especially, such as have been collected by depredation. [ Scot.]
Spree Spree noun [ Confer Ir.
spre a spark, animation, spirit, Gael.
spraic . Confer
Sprack .]
A merry frolic; especially, a drinking frolic; a carousal. [ Colloq.]
Sprenge Sprenge transitive verb [ Middle English
sprengen , past participle
sprent ,
spreint , from Anglo-Saxon
sprengen to sprinkle. See
Sprinkle .]
To sprinkle; to scatter. [ Obsolete]
Wyclif (1 Pet. i. 2).
Sprengel pump Spreng"el pump` (Physics) A form of air pump in which exhaustion is produced by a stream of mercury running down a narrow tube, in the manner of an aspirator; -- named from the inventor.
Sprent Sprent obsolete
past participle of Sprenge . Sprinkled. All the ground with purple blood was sprent .
Spenser.
Sprew Sprew noun [ Confer Dutch
sprouw ,
spruw .]
(Medicine) Thrush. [ Local, U.S.]
Spreynd Spreynd obsolete
past participle of Sprenge . Sprinkled. When spreynd was holy water.
Chaucer.
Sprig Sprig noun [ Anglo-Saxon
sprec ; akin to Icelandic
sprek a stick. Confer
Spray a branch.]
1. A small shoot or twig of a tree or other plant; a spray; as, a sprig of laurel or of parsley. 2. A youth; a lad; -- used humorously or in slight disparagement. A sprig whom I remember, with a whey-face and a satchel, not so many years ago.
Sir W. Scott. 3. A brad, or nail without a head. 4. (Nautical) A small eyebolt ragged or barbed at the point.
Sprig Sprig transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Sprigged ;
present participle & verbal noun Sprigging .]
To mark or adorn with the representation of small branches; to work with sprigs; as, to sprig muslin.
Sprigged Sprigged adjective Having sprigs.
Spriggy Sprig"gy adjective Full of sprigs or small branches.
Spright Spright noun [ See
Sprite .]
1. Spirit; mind; soul; state of mind; mood. [ Obsolete] "The high heroic
spright ."
Spenser. Wondrous great grief groweth in my spright .
Spenser. 2. A supernatural being; a spirit; a shade; an apparition; a ghost. Forth he called, out of deep darkness dread,
Legions of sprights .
Spenser. To thee, O Father, Son, and Sacred Spright .
Fairfax. 3. A kind of short arrow. [ Obsolete]
Bacon.
Spright Spright transitive verb To haunt, as a spright. [ Obsolete]
Shak.
Sprightful Spright"ful adjective [
Spright sprite +
full .]
Full of spirit or of life; earnest; vivacious; lively; brisk; nimble; gay. [ Obsolete] --
Spright"ful*ly ,
adverb [ Obsolete]
Shak. --
Spright"ful*ness ,
noun [ Obsolete]
Spoke like a sprightful gentlemen.
Shak. Steeds sprightful as the light.
Cowley.
Sprightless Spright"less adjective Destitute of life; dull; sluggish.
Sprightliness Spright"li·ness noun The quality or state of being sprightly; liveliness; life; briskness; vigor; activity; gayety; vivacity. In dreams, observe with what a sprightliness and alacrity does she [ the soul] exert herself!
Addison.
Sprightly Spright"ly adjective [
Compar. Sprightlier ;
superl. Sprightliest .] [ See
Sprite .]
Sprightlike, or spiritlike; lively; brisk; animated; vigorous; airy; gay; as, a sprightly youth; a sprightly air; a sprightly dance. "
Sprightly wit and love inspires."
Dryden. The sprightly Sylvia trips along the green.
Pope.
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