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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spencer Spencer

The young archeress laughed at her failure, and resigned her place to another, who was distinguished by an orange-coloured spencer.

From Captain Kyd (Vol 1 of 2) or, The Wizard of the Sea by Jonathon Holt Ingraham

Yesterday the following clothes were sent: 3 pairs of boys trousers, 2 boys dresses, 2 frocks, a spencer, 5 pairs of childrens stays, a pair of boots, and a few other little articles.

From A Narrative of some of the Lord's Dealings with George Müller Written by Himself, Third Part by George Müller

Hawthorne's list of New England wigs was shorter: "The tie, the brigadier, the spencer, the albemarle, the major, the ramillies, the grave full-bottom, and the giddy feather-top."

From Customs and Fashions in Old New England by Alice Morse Earle

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

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

She wore an embroidered gown of fine London cloth, and a close-fitting spencer.

From Curiosities of Human Nature by Anonymous

Bath's Ben Spencer and Bristol Bears' Harry Randall were called in as scrum-half options on Monday, with Leicester's Jack van Poortvliet - who started all three of England's summer Tests - the likely first-choice nine.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

Bass and Raman were the top two finishers in the June 2 primary, leaving Republican former reality show star Spencer Pratt out of the general election.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026

The single specimen of A. aegis came up in 2006 near the Gambier Islands, at the mouth of South Australia’s Spencer Gulf.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026

John McKinney, 58, who leapfrogged to a second-place finish in the primaries amid a stoic, law-and-order campaign that sometimes slipped into Spencer Pratt-style dystopian imagery.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

Joon and Spencer sit sweating under the sun in the middle of the outside cement patio.

From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na

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