spencer

¹ American  

[spen-ser] / ˈspɛn sər /

noun

1. a short, close-fitting jacket, frequently trimmed with fur, worn in the 19th century by women and children.

2. a man's close-fitting jacket, having a collar and lapels and reaching just below the waist, worn in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

3. an English wig of the 18th century.

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spencer ² American  

[spen-ser] / ˈspɛn sər /

noun

Nautical.

1. a large gaff sail used abaft a square-rigged foremast or abaft the mainmast of a ship or bark.

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Spencer ³ American  

[spen-ser] / ˈspɛn sər /

noun

Military.

1. a .52 caliber, lever-action repeating rifle and carbine patented in the U.S. in 1860 and used by the Union army and navy in the Civil War.

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Spencer ⁴ American  

[spen-ser] / ˈspɛn sər /

noun

1. Charles, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, 1674–1722, British statesman: prime minister 1718–21.

2. Herbert, 1820–1903, English philosopher.

3. Platt Rogers 1800–64, U.S. calligrapher and teacher of penmanship.

4. a town in NW Iowa.

5. a town in central Massachusetts.

6. a male given name.

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Spencer ¹ British  

/ ˈspɛnsə /

noun

1. Herbert. 1820–1903, English philosopher, who applied evolutionary theory to the study of society, favouring laissez-faire doctrines

2. Sir Stanley. 1891–1959, English painter, noted esp for his paintings of Christ in a contemporary English setting

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spencer ² British  

/ ˈspɛnsə /

noun

1. a short fitted coat or jacket

2. a woman's knitted vest

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spencer ³ British  

/ ˈspɛnsə /

noun

1. nautical a large loose-footed gaffsail on a square-rigger or barque

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Etymology

Origin of spencer¹

1740–50; spencer ¹ in defs. 1, 2 named after G. J. Spencer (1758–1834), English earl; spencer ¹ in def. 3 named after Charles Spencer

Origin of spencer²

First recorded in 1830–40; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

We cut out phrases like 'topgallant studding sail boom' and 'main spencer sheet blocks,' and introduced 'fiddley gratings' and 'foo-foo valve.'

From Merchantmen-at-arms : the British merchants' service in the war by Bone, David W. (David William)

Sandwich and spencer are coupled in an old rime— "Two noble earls, whom, if I quote, Some folks might call me sinner; The one invented half a coat, The other half a dinner."

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest

We little fools used to buy stories of him with peas and beans, and once even we saved up to buy Shprintze a red flannel spencer.

From Stories and Pictures by Peretz, Isaac Loeb

Yes, the faded and unknown hue of the substantial brocade, the skimpiness of the satin, the quaint devices in piping-cord and feather-stitch—must assuredly have been coeval with that good woman's famous hat and spencer.

From Vixen, Volume II. by Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth)

The stack and mainstays may have made the fore spencer sail a nuisance, so it may not have been set while the vessel had her engine.

From The Pioneer Steamship Savannah: A Study for a Scale Model United States National Museum Bulletin 228, 1961, pages 61-80 by Chapelle, Howard I. (Howard Irving)