span-new

[ span-noo, -nyoo ]

/ ˈspænˈnu, -ˈnyu /

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adjective

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of span-new

1250–1300; Middle English spannewe<Old Norse spānnȳr brand-new, fresh, equivalent to spānn chip shavings, shingle + nȳr new

Words nearby span-new

spank, spanker, spanking, span loading, spanner, span-new, span of apprehension, span of attention, spanrail, span roof, span saw

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use span-new in a sentence

He seems to think he is mooting to me a spick and span new idea—that he has invented something.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
He has got a span new suit of blue uniform, all covered with gold buttons, an gold lace an gold shoulder-straps.
Letters of Major Jack Downing, of the Downingville Militia|Seba Smith
But there were ower mony great folks dipped in the same doings, to mak a spick and span new warld.
Red Gauntlet|Sir Walter Scott
But till't their lordships went wi' as muckle teeth and gude-will, as if the matter had been a' speck and span new.
Rob Roy, Volume 1., Illustrated|Sir Walter Scott

She lived for him, and his services, and the bran span new church he had built for himself in the square at the back.
Mattie:--A Stray (Vol 3 of 3)|Frederick William Robinson

British Dictionary definitions for span-new

span-new

adjective

archaic, or dialect absolutely new

Word Origin for span-new

C14: from Old Norse spānnӯr, from spānn chip + nӯr new

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012