inspan
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to harness (animals) to (a vehicle); yoke
-
to press (people) into service
Etymology
Origin of inspan
From Afrikaans, dating back to 1825–35; see origin at in- 1, span 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then I had him untied, and let him go, and bade him inspan and trek at once before worse happened.
From Tales of South Africa by Bryden, H.A.
Why shouldn’t we inspan and go back with them, Ned?
From The Fire Trumpet A Romance of the Cape Frontier by Mitford, Bertram
He could inspan and outspan oxen, and was already master of other useful veldt wrinkles, which usually take some time to acquire.
From From Veldt Camp Fires by Bryden, H.A.
At any rate the sooner we took the road again the better, and so I announced to Falkner that we would inspan at sunrise.
From A Frontier Mystery by Mitford, Bertram
Just as they were about to inspan the oxen in the morning some fifteen or twenty men were seen approaching at a gallop.
From The Young Colonists A Story of the Zulu and Boer Wars by Henty, G.A.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
