spital
Americannoun
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a hospital, especially one for lazars.
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a shelter on a highway.
noun
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a hospital, esp for the needy sick
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a highway shelter
Etymology
Origin of spital
1625–35; alteration of spittle, Middle English spitel < Medieval Latin hospitāle; hospital
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.
A witch from the spital or almshouse would have been a goddess in comparison to the late beautiful huntress.
From Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft by Scott, Walter, Sir
News have I, that my Doll is dead i' the spital Of malady of France; And there my rendezvous is quite cut off.
From King Henry V by Shakespeare, William
A witch from the spital or almshouse would have been a goddess in comparison to the late beautiful huntress.
From Folk-Lore and Legends Scotland by Anonymous
The institution now known as the "orspittle" was called by our unlettered forefathers the "spital," hence the names Spittle and Spittlehouse.
From The Romance of Names by Weekley, Ernest
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.