sprattle
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of sprattle
1815–25; metathetic variant of spartle to scatter, itself alteration of sparple ( Middle English < Old French esparpeiller < ?)
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.
“I thought me on the ourie cattle, Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle O’ wintry war; Or thro’ the drift, deep-lairing, sprattle, Beneath a scaur.
From Life of Robert Burns by Carlyle, Thomas
Or thro' the drift, deep-lairing, sprattle, Beneath a scaur.
From Robert Burns by Shairp, John Campbell
Cp. sprattle in Burns. > æ before r in ware. > a before r in karling.
From Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by Flom, George Tobias
I thought me on the ourie cattle, Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle O' wintry war, Or thro' the drift, deep-lairing sprattle, Beneath a scaur.
From A Year in the Fields by Burroughs, John
List'ning the doors an' winnocks rattle; I think me on the ourie cattle, Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle O' winter war, And thro' the drift, deep-lairing sprattle, Beneath a scaur!
From Recreations of Christopher North, Volume I (of 2) by Wilson, John Lyde
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.
