The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
Chapter 1605
Sport"ive (?) , a. Tending to, engaged in, or provocate of, sport; gay; froliscome; playful; merry.
Is it I That drive thee from the sportive court? Shak.
-- Sport"ive*ly , adv. -- Sport"ive*ness , n.
Sportless <Xpage=1392>
Sport"less , a. Without sport or mirth; joyless.
Sportling <Xpage=1392>
Sport"ling (?) , n. A little person or creature engaged in sports or in play.
When again the lambkins play -- Pretty sportlings , full of May. Philips.
Sportsman <Xpage=1392>
Sports"man (?) , n. ; pl. Sportsmen (<?/) . One who pursues the sports of the field; one who hunts, fishes, etc.
Sportsmanship <Xpage=1392>
Sports"man*ship , n. The practice of sportsmen; skill in field sports.
<-- conduct becoming to one participating in sport or competition, as fair play, or graciousness in winning or losing. -->
Sportula <Xpage=1392>
Spor"tu*la (?) , n. ; pl. Sportul\'91 (<?/) . [L.] A gift; a present; a prize; hence, an alms; a largess.
To feed luxuriously, to frequent sports and theaters, to run for the sportula . South.
Sportulary <Xpage=1392>
Spor"tu*la*ry (?) , a. Subsisting on alms or charitable contributions. [Obs.]
Bp. Hall.
Sportule <Xpage=1392>
Spor"tule (?) , n. [L. sportula a little basket, a gift, dim. of sporta a basket: cf. F. sortule .] A charitable gift or contribution; a gift; an alms; a dole; a largess; a sportula. [Obs.]
Ayliffe.
Sporulation <Xpage=1392>
Spor`u*la"tion (?) , n. (Biol.) The act or process of forming spores; spore formation. See Illust . of Bacillus, b .
Sporule <Xpage=1392>
Spor"ule (?) , n. [Dim. of spore .] (Biol.) A small spore; a spore.
Sporuliferous <Xpage=1392>
Spor`u*lif"er*ous (?) , a. [ Sporule + -ferous .] (Biol.) Producing sporules.
Spot <Xpage=1392>
Spot (?) , n. [Cf. Scot. & D. spat , Dan. spette , Sw. spott spittle, slaver; from the root of E. spit . See Spit to eject from the mouth, and cf. Spatter .] 1. A mark on a substance or body made by foreign matter; a blot; a place discolored.
Out, damned spot ! Out, I say! Shak.
2. A stain on character or reputation; something that soils purity; disgrace; reproach; fault; blemish.
Yet Chloe, sure, was formed without a spot . Pope.
3. A small part of a different color from the main part, or from the ground upon which it is; as, the spots of a leopard; the spots on a playing card .
4. A small extent of space; a place; any particular place. "Fixed to one spot ."
Otway.
That spot to which I point is Paradise. Milton.
"A jolly place," said he, "in times of old! But something ails it now: the spot is cursed." Wordsworth.
5. (Zo\'94l.) A variety of the common domestic pigeon, so called from a spot on its head just above its beak.
6. (Zo\'94l.) (a) A sci\'91noid food fish ( Liostomus xanthurus ) of the Atlantic coast of the United States. It has a black spot behind the shoulders and fifteen oblique dark bars on the sides. Called also goody , Lafayette , masooka , and old wife . (b) The southern redfish, or red horse, which has a spot on each side at the base of the tail. See Redfish .
7. pl. Commodities, as merchandise and cotton, sold for immediate delivery. [Broker's Cant]
Crescent spot (Zo\'94l.) , any butterfly of the family Melit\'91id\'91 having crescent-shaped white spots along the margins of the red or brown wings. -- Spot lens (Microscopy) , a condensing lens in which the light is confined to an annular pencil by means of a small, round diaphragm (the spot ), and used in dark-field ilumination; -- called also spotted lens . -- Spot rump (Zo\'94l.) , the Hudsonian godwit ( Limosa h\'91mastica ). -- Spots on the sun . (Astron.) See Sun spot , ander Sun . -- On , ∨ Upon , the spot , immediately; before moving; without changing place.
It was determined upon the spot . Swift.
Syn. -- Stain; flaw; speck; blot; disgrace; reproach; fault; blemish; place; site; locality.
Spot <Xpage=1392>
Spot , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Spotted ; p. pr. & vb. n. Spotting .] 1. To make visible marks upon with some foreign matter; to discolor in or with spots; to stain; to cover with spots or figures; as, to spot a garnment; to spot paper.
2. To mark or note so as to insure recognition; to recognize; to detect; as, to spot a criminal . [Cant]
3. To stain; to blemish; to taint; to disgrace; to tarnish, as reputation; to asperse.
My virgin life no spotted thoughts shall stain. Sir P. Sidney.
If ever I shall close these eyes but once, May I live spotted for my perjury. Beau. & Fl.
To spot timber , to cut or chip it, in preparation for hewing.
Spot <Xpage=1392>
Spot , v. i. To become stained with spots.
Spotless <Xpage=1392>
Spot"less , a. Without a spot; especially, free from reproach or impurity; pure; untained; innocent; as, a spotless mind; spotless behavior .
A spotless virgin, and a faultless wife. Waller.
Syn. -- Blameless; unspotted; unblemished; pure; immaculate; irreproachable. See Blameless .
-- Spot"less*ly , adv. -- Spot"less*ness , n.
Spotted <Xpage=1392>
Spot"ted , a. Marked with spots; as, a spotted garment or character . "The spotted panther."
Spenser.
Spotted fever (Med.) , a name applied to various eruptive fevers, esp. to typhus fever and cerebro-spinal meningitis. -- Spotted tree (Bot.) , an Australian tree ( Flindersia maculosa ); -- so called because its bark falls off in spots.
Spottedness <Xpage=1392>
Spot"ted*ness , n. State or quality of being spotted.
Spotter <Xpage=1392>
Spot"ter (?) , n. One who spots.
Spottiness <Xpage=1392>
Spot"ti*ness (?) , n. The state or quality of being spotty.
Spotty <Xpage=1392>
Spot"ty (?) , a. Full of spots; marked with spots.
Spousage <Xpage=1392>
Spous"age (?; 48) , n. [OF. espousaige , from espouser . See Spouse , v. t. ] Espousal. [Obs.]
Bale.
Spousal <Xpage=1392>
Spous"al (?) , a. [See Espousal , Sponsal , and Spouse .] Of or pertaining to a spouse or marriage; nuptial; matrimonial; conjugal; bridal; as, spousal rites; spousal ornaments .
Wordsworth.
Spousal <Xpage=1392>
Spous"al , n. [See Espousal , Spouse .] Marriage; nuptials; espousal; -- generally used in the plural; as, the spousals of Hippolita .
Dryden.
Boweth your head under that blissful yoke . . . Which that men clepeth spousal or wedlock. Chaucer.
the spousals of the newborn year. Emerson.
Spouse <Xpage=1392>
Spouse (?) , n. [OF. espous , espos , fem. espouse , F. \'82poux , \'82pouse , fr. L. sponsus , sponsa , prop. p.p. of spondere , sponsum , to promise solemnly, to engage one's self. Cf. Despond , Espouse , respond , Sponsor .] 1. A man or woman engaged or joined in wedlock; a married person, husband or wife.
At last such grace I found, and means I wrought, That that lady to my spouse had won. Spenser.
2. A married man, in distinct from a spousess or married woman ; a bridegroom or husband. [Obs.]
At which marriage was [were] no person present but the spouse , the spousess, the Duchess of Bedford her mother, the priest, two gentlewomen, and a young man. Fabyan.
Spouse <Xpage=1392>
Spouse (?) , v. t. [See Espouse , and Spouse, n. ] To wed; to espouse. [Obs.]
This markis hath her spoused with a ring. Chaucer.
Though spoused , yet wanting wedlock's solemnize. Spenser.
She was found again, and spoused to Marinell. Spenser.
Spouse-breach <Xpage=1392>
Spouse"-breach` (?) , n. Adultery. [Obs.]
Spouseless <Xpage=1392>
Spouse"less , a. Destitute of a spouse; unmarried.
Spousess <Xpage=1392>
Spous"ess , n. A wife or bride. [Obs.]
Fabyan.
Spout <Xpage=1392>
Spout (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Spouted ; p. pr. & vb. n. Spouting .] [Cf. Sw. sputa , spruta , to spout, D. spuit a spout, spuiten to spout, and E. spurt , sprit , v., sprout , sputter ; or perhaps akin to E. spit to eject from the mouth.] 1. To throw out forcibly and abudantly, as liquids through an office or a pipe; to eject in a jet; as, an elephant spouts water from his trunk .
Who kept Jonas in the fish's maw Till he was spouted up at Ninivee? Chaucer.
Next on his belly floats the mighty whale . . . He spouts the tide. Creech.
2. To utter magniloquently; to recite in an oratorical or pompous manner.
Pray, spout some French, son. Beau. & Fl.
3. To pawn; to pledge; as, spout a watch . [Cant]
Spout <Xpage=1392>
Spout , v. i. 1. To issue with with violence, or in a jet, as a liquid through a narrow orifice, or from a spout; as, water spouts from a hole; blood spouts from an artery .
All the glittering hill Is bright with spouting rills. Thomson.
2. To eject water or liquid in a jet.
3. To utter a speech, especially in a pompous manner.
Spout <Xpage=1392>
Spout , n. [Cf. Sw. spruta a squirt, a syringe. See Spout , v. t. ] 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 , ∨ 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 <Xpage=1392>
Spout"er (?) , n. One who, or that which, spouts.
Spoutfish <Xpage=1392>
Spout"fish (?) , n. (Zo\'94l.) 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 <Xpage=1392>
Spout"less , a. Having no spout.
Cowper.
Spoutshell <Xpage=1392>
Spout"shell` (?) , n. (Zo\'94l.) Any marine gastropod shell of the genus Apporhais having an elongated siphon. See Illust . under Rostrifera .
Sprack <Xpage=1392>
Sprack (?) , a. [Cf. Icel. sp\'91kr sprightly, dial. Sw. spr\'84k , spr\'84g , spirited, mettlesome; or Gael. spraic vigor.] Quick; lively' alert. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
Sprad <Xpage=1392>
Sprad (?) , obs. p. p. of Spread .
Chaucer.
Spradde <Xpage=1392>
Sprad"de (?) , obs. imp. of Spread .
Chaucer.
Sprag <Xpage=1392>
Sprag (?) , n. [Cf. Icel. spraka a small flounder.] (Zo\'94l.) A young salmon. [Prov. Eng.]
Sprag <Xpage=1392>
Sprag , n. [See Spray a branch.] A billet of wood; a piece of timber used as a prop.
Sprag <Xpage=1392>
Sprag , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Spragged (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. 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 <Xpage=1392>
Sprag , a. See Sprack , a.
Shak.
Sprain <Xpage=1392>
Sprain (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Sprained (?) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Spraining .] [OF. espreindre to press, to force out, F. \'82preindre , fr. L. exprimere . See Express , v. t. , and cf. 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 <Xpage=1392>
Sprain , n. The act or result of spraining; lameness caused by spraining; as, a bad sprain of the wrist .
Sprain fracture (Med.) , 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 <Xpage=1392>
Spraints (?) , n. pl. [OF. espraintes , espreintes , F. \'82preintes from espreinte a desire to go to stool, from espreindre . See Sprain , v. t. ] The dung of an otter.
Sprang <Xpage=1392>
Sprang (?) , imp. of Spring .
Sprat <Xpage=1392>
Sprat (?) , n. [OE. sprot , sprotte , D. sprot ; akin to G. sprotte .] (Zo\'94l.) (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 (Zo\'94l.) , the red-throated diver; -- so called from its fondness for sprats. See Diver . -- Sprat loon . (Zo\'94l.) (a) The young of the great northern diver . [Prov. Eng.] (b) The red-throated diver. See Diver . -- Sprat mew (Zo\'94l.) , the kittiwake gull.
<page="1393"> Page 1393
Sprawl <Xpage=1393>
Sprawl (spr&add;l) , v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Sprawled (spr&add;ld) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Sprawling .] [OE. spraulen ; cf. Sw. sprattla to sprawl, dial. Sw. spralla , Dan. sp\'91lle , spr\'91lde , D. 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. <-- also sprawl out, as to sprawl out all over the couch. -->
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.
Srawls <Xpage=1393>
Srawls (?) , n. pl. Small branches of a tree; twigs; sprays. [Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
Spray <Xpage=1393>
Spray (?) , n. [ Cf. Dan. 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 (Agric.) , a drain made by laying under earth the sprays or small branches of trees, which keep passages open.
Spray <Xpage=1393>
Spray , n. [probably from a Dutch or Low German form akin to E. spread . See Spread , v. t. ] 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. (Med.) (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 <Xpage=1393>
Spray , v. t. 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 <Xpage=1393>
Spray`board (?) , n. (Naut.) See Dashboard , n. , 2 (b) .
Spread <Xpage=1393>
Spread (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Spread ; p. pr. & vb. n. Spreading .] [OE. spreden , AS. spr\'91dan ; akin to D. spreiden , spreijen , LG. spreden , spreen , spreien , G. spreiten , Dan. sprede , Sw. sprida . Cf. 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.