spean
Americanverb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of spean
1565–75; variant of dial. spane, Middle English spanen; cognate with Low German, Dutch spenen, German (dial.) Spänen
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.
These sweetie wives were not young by any means—save one or two— “But withered beldames, auld and droll, Rig-woodie hags would spean a foal.”
From Annie o' the Banks o' Dee by Stables, Gordon
O for a good wat nurse to spean ye, like John Adamson's lambs!
From The Shepherd's Calendar Volume I (of II) by Hogg, James
But wither'd beldams, auld and droll, Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal, Louping an' flinging on a crummock.
From Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Burns, Robert
But withered beldams, auld and droll, Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal, Lowping an' flinging on a crummock— I wonder did na turn thy stomach.
From In the Saddle A Collection of Poems on Horseback-Riding by Various
He was one of the most conceited persons in the world, but a good teacher; one of the ugliest countenances he had that need be exhibited—enough, as we say, to spean weans.
From Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume I (of 10) by Lockhart, J. G. (John Gibson)
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.
