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

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox responded to the chairman’s X feed.

From The Wall Street Journal

The school bus appeared out of the early-morning darkness just then, and he and Chip crammed themselves into the screaming, squealing line of kids jabbering about how Spencer Patton was going to sneak his iPod into math class today and how Kelly Jefferson had just broken up with Jordan Cowan and, “Did you hear—six kids got sick from eating the cafeteria pizza yesterday! Do you think they’ll finally fire the lunch ladies?”

From Literature

Borhwick has also changed his back options off the bench as Jack van Poortvliet and Marcus Smith replace Ben Spencer and Fin Smith.

From Barron's

After Bass and Raman, the three biggest figures in the race are Spencer Pratt, Rae Huang and Adam Miller.

From Los Angeles Times

“We’re in a new environment, and someone who’s going to replay the playbooks of the past is not necessarily right,” said James Citrin, head of the global CEO practice at executive-recruiting firm Spencer Stuart, which produced the report.

From The Wall Street Journal