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.
Or thro' the drift, deep-lairing, sprattle, Beneath a scaur.
From Robert Burns by Shairp, John Campbell
“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
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
Swith! in some beggar's haffet squattle; There ye may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle, Wi' ither kindred, jumping cattle, In shoals and nations; Whaur horn nor bane ne'er daur unsettle Your thick plantations.
From Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Burns, Robert
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.
