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• spencer
  spencer

  noun

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

  noun

  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.

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

Mother made a spencer of hers, and when it was worn out kept enough for this needle-book.

From Silver Pitchers: and Independence A Centennial Love Story by Alcott, Louisa May

He was clad in garments of coarse blue cloth, and wore a loose spencer over a waistcoat adorned with various rows of small buttons of mother of pearl; he had spectacles upon his nose. 

From The Bible in Spain Vol. 1 [of 2] by Borrow, George Henry

It would never do to appear in a black coat, a light gray spencer, punch-colored shorts and gaiters, white hat with a strip of black crape on it,—mere Dodd and Dempsey!

From The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. II (of II) by Lever, Charles James

From these things Mrs. Williams gave me a tolerably good pair of stockings and shoes, a very tidy straw bonnet with black ribbons, and a blue cloth spencer.

From Forgotten Tales of Long Ago by Bedford, F. D.

Nay, he wouldn't have cared if it had been made into a spencer.

From Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour by Surtees, Robert Smith