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• spence
  spence

  noun

  a pantry.
• Spence
  Spence

  noun

  a male given name, form of Spencer.

spence

¹ American  

[spens] / spɛns /

noun

British Dialect.

1. a pantry.

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Spence ² American  

[spens] / spɛns /

noun

1. a male given name, form of Spencer.

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spence ¹ British  

/ spɛns /

noun

1. dialect

   1. a larder or pantry

   2. any monetary allowance

   3. a parlour, esp in a cottage

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Spence ² British  

/ spɛns /

noun

1. Sir Basil ( Unwin ). 1907–76, Scottish architect, born in India; designed Coventry Cathedral (1951)

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Etymology

Origin of spence

1350–1400; Middle English spense, spence < Middle French despense pantry < Medieval Latin dīspēnsa, noun use of feminine of dīspēnsus, past participle of dīspendere to weigh out; see dispense

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spence Spence

Will straik on her mittens sae dainty, And crack wi' Mess John i' the spence.

From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 3 by Hamilton Wright Mabie

Our bardie, lanely, keeps the spence parlor Sin' Mailie's dead.

From Robert Burns How To Know Him by William Allan Neilson

It consisted of three apartments,—the cow-house at one end, the kitchen or house in the middle, and the spence at the other end. 

From Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland A.D. 1803 by John Campbell Shairp

The spence, aphetic for dispense, is now known only in dialect— "I am gaun to eat my dinner quietly in the spence."

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Ernest Weekley

And now we'll go down to the spence, where ye can meet Mr. Burns.

From Nancy Stair A Novel by Elinor Macartney Lane

“Things don’t seem to be calming down on pricing,” Spence said.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

“We are in expansion, you don’t dismiss that, but folks are very worried,” said Susan Spence, chairman of the ISM survey.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

Fifth Third’s Spence noted that a lot of demand in construction and materials industries is also still coming from government-backed infrastructure investments, related to the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Attorney Michael Spence told the judge during a September hearing that there was no plan to recharge Hearn, but he couldn’t promise the office wouldn’t investigate further whether he vandalized the reflecting pool.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

We walked 9.7 miles to Spence Field Shelter, a modest distance even for us, but we were wet through and chilled, and anyway it was too far to hike to the next one.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

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