Spawn, spawn, n. the eggs of fish or frogs when ejected: offspring.—adj. containing spawn.—v.t. to produce, as fishes and frogs do their eggs: to bring forth.—v.i. to deposit eggs, as fishes or frogs: to issue, as offspring.—ns. Spawn′er, the female fish from which the spawn is ejected; Spawn′ing; Spawn′ing-bed, -ground, a bed made in the bottom of a stream on which fish deposit their spawn. [O. Fr. espandre, to shed—L. expandĕre, to spread out.]
Spay, spā, v.t. to make an animal barren by destroying its ovaries.—Also Spāve. [L. spado—Gr. spadōn, a eunuch—Gr. spaein, draw out.]
Speak, spēk, v.i. to utter words or articulate sounds: to say: to talk: to converse: to sound: to give expression by any means, to intimate, to hint.—v.t. to pronounce: to converse in: to address: to declare: to express by signs:—pa.t. spoke or spāke; pa.p. spō′ken.—adj. Speak′able, capable of being spoken: (Milt.) having the power of speech.—ns. Speak′-eas′y (U.S.), an illicit dram-shop, shebeen; Speak′er, one who speaks or proclaims: the person who presides in a deliberative or legislative body, as the House of Commons; Speak′ership, the office of Speaker; Speak′ing, the act of expressing ideas in words: discourse.—adj. seeming to speak: natural: used to assist the voice.—adv. Speak′ingly.—ns. Speak′ing-trum′pet, an instrument for enabling the sound of the voice to be conveyed to a greater distance; Speak′ing-tube, a tube communicating from one room to another for speaking through; Speak′ing-voice, the kind of voice used in speaking.—Speak a ship, to hail and speak to some one on board her; Speak fair, to address one in conciliatory terms; Speak for, to speak on behalf of: to be a proof of: to bespeak, engage; Speaking terms, a relationship between two persons not extending beyond the courtesy of verbal salutation, &c.; Speak of, to talk about: to mention, or to be worth mentioning; Speak one's mind, to say frankly what one thinks; Speak out, to assert boldly or loudly; Speak to, to reprove: to attest, testify to; Speak up, to speak out; Speak well for, to witness favourably to.—So to speak, as one might put it, as it were. [A.S. specan (for sprecan); Dut. spreken, Ger. sprechen.]
Speal-bone, spēl′-bōn, n. the shoulder-blade.
Spear, spēr, n. a long weapon used in war and hunting, made of a pole pointed with iron: a lance with barbed prongs used for catching fish.—v.t. to pierce or kill with a spear.—ns. Spear′-fish, a kind of carp-sucker—also Sail-fish and Skimback: the bill-fish, a histiophoroid fish related to the swordfish; Spear′-foot, the off or right hind-foot of a horse; Spear′-grass, a name applied to various grasses, esp. those known as meadow-grass, the Kentucky blue-grass: either of two New Zealand plants of the parsley family with long spinous leaflets; Spear′-head, the iron point of a spear; Spear′-lil′y, a plant of one of the species of the Australian genus Doryanthes of the Amaryllideæ, with sword-shaped leaves; Spear′man, a man armed with a spear; Spear′mint, the common garden-mint; Spear′-this′tle, the common thistle; Spear′-wood, one of two Australian trees whose wood makes good spear-shafts; Spear′-wort, the name of several species of Ranunculus with lance-shaped leaves. [A.S. spere; Ger. speer, L. sparus; cf. Spar.]
Spec, a colloquial abbrev. of speculation.
Special, spesh′al, adj. of a species or sort; particular: distinctive: uncommon: designed for a particular purpose: confined to a particular subject or application.—n. any special or particular person or thing: any person or thing set apart for a particular duty—a constable, a railway-tram, &c.: a newspaper extra, a despatch from a special correspondent.—n. Specialisā′tion, the act or process of specialising: differentiation, as of organs, functions, &c.—v.t. Spec′ialise, to make specifically distinct, to limit to a particular kind of action or use.—v.i. to act in some particular way, to take a particular direction, as to devote one's self especially to some particular branch of study.—ns. Spec′ialism, devotion to some particular study or pursuit; Spec′ialist, one who devotes himself to a special subject.—adj. Specialist′ic.—n. Special′ity, the particular characteristic of a person or thing: a special occupation or object of attention.—adv. Spec′ially.—ns. Spec′ialty, something special or distinctive: any special product, article of sale or of manufacture: any special pursuit, department of study, &c.: a special contract for the payment of money; Specie (spē′shi), gold and silver coin, metallic money (abl. of L. species, kind); Spē′cies, a group of individuals having common marks or characteristics, specialised from others of the same genus to which it is subordinate: a group under a higher class, a kind or sort, a distinct constituent part, an element: an appearance to the senses, an image of an external object presented to the eye or the mind; Spē′cies-mong′er, one who busies himself with classifications only, indifferent to wider biological relations, one who makes distinctions for distinction's sake; Spēcif′ic, a remedy which has a special power in a particular disease: an infallible remedy.—adjs. Spēcif′ic, -al, pertaining to, or constituting, a species: that specifies: peculiar to: produced by some special cause: precise: infallible.—adv. Spēcif′ically.—ns. Spēcif′icalness, Spēcif′icness, the state or quality of being specific.—Special constable (see Constable); Special license (see License); Special pleading (see Plead); Special verdict (see Verdict).—Specific density, the mass of any given substance contained in unit volume; Specific gravity, the weight of any given substance as compared with the weight of an equal bulk or volume of water or other standard substance at the same temperature and pressure; Specific heat (see Heat).
Specify, spes′i-fī, v.t. to mention particularly: to set down as a requisite:—pa.t. and pa.p. spec′ifīed.—v.t. Specif′icate, to specify.—n. Specificā′tion, the act of specifying: any point or particular specified: the description of his invention presented by an applicant for a patent.—Logical specification is the counterpart of generalisation—implying that beings the most like or homogeneous disagree or are heterogeneous in some respect. [O. Fr.,—Low L. specificāre—L. species, kind, facĕre, to make.]
Specillum, spē-sil′um, n. a surgical probe: a lens, eyeglass. [L.,—specĕre, to look.]
Specimen, spes′i-men, n. a portion of anything to show the kind and quality of the whole: a sample, a typical individual: a preparation in natural history, &c., exemplifying anything noticeable in a species or other group. [L. specimen—specĕre, to see.]