spick-and-span
[ spik-uh n-span ]
/ ˈspɪk ənˈspæn /
adjective
spotlessly clean and neat: a spick-and-span kitchen.
perfectly new; fresh.
adverb
in a spick-and-span manner.
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RELATED WORDS
precise, accurate, tidy, slick, sleek, elegant, orderly, spotless, immaculate, smart, well-kept, late, different, state-of-the-art, modern, unusual, unfamiliar, contemporary, current, strange
Nearby words
- spicery,
- spicewood,
- spicey,
- spick,
- spick and span,
- spicula,
- spicular,
- spiculate,
- spiculation,
- spicule
Origin of spick-and-span
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
spick-and-span
spic-and-span
/ (ˈspɪkənˈspæn) /
adjective
extremely neat and clean
new and fresh
Word Origin for spick-and-span
C17: shortened from spick-and-span-new, from obsolete spick spike, nail + span-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
spick and span
Neat and clean, as in When Ruth has finished cleaning, the whole house is spick and span. This term combines two nouns that are now obsolete, spick, “a nail” or “spike,” and span, “a wooden chip.” In the 1500s a sailing ship was considered spick and span when every spike and chip was brand-new. The transfer to the current sense took place in the mid-1800s.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.