Spokeshave, spōk′shāv, n. a carpenter's tool having a plane-bit between two bandies for curved work, &c.
Spokesman, spōks′man, n. one who speaks for another, or for others, an advocate.
Spole, spōl, n. the small wheel near the distaff in the spinning-wheel. [A variant of spool.]
Spoliate, spō′li-āt, v.t. to spoil, to plunder, to pillage.—v.i. to practise robbery.—ns. Spō′liary, the place in a Roman amphitheatre where the bodies of slaughtered gladiators were dragged to be stripped; Spoliā′tion, act of spoiling: robbery.—adj. Spō′liātive, serving to take away or diminish.—n. Spō′liātor, one who spoliates.—adj. Spō′liātory, tending to spoil: destructive.—n. Spō′lium, the property of a beneficed ecclesiastic not transmissible by will. [L. spoliatus, pa.p. of spoliāre—spolium, spoil.]
Spondee, spon′dē, n. in classical poetry, a foot of two long syllables, as fātō.—adjs. Spondā′ic, -al, pertaining to, or consisting of, spondees. [Fr.,—L. spondēus (pes)—Gr. spondeios (pous), (a foot) of two syllables, so called because much used in the slow solemn hymns sung at a spondē or drink-offering—spendein, to pour out, make a libation.]
Spondyl, -e, spon′dil, n. a joint, joining.—ns. Spondylal′gia, pain in the spine; Spondylī′tis, arthritis of a vertebra.—adj. Spon′dylous, vertebral. [Gr. spondylos, a joint.]
Sponge, spunj, n. a fixed, usually marine, animal with pores in the body-wall and without tentacles: the fibrous framework of such, remarkable for its power of sucking up water: any sponge-like substance, as dough before it is kneaded and formed: any cringing hanger-on or parasite, a drunken fellow: an instrument for cleaning cannon after a discharge: the heel of a horse's shoe.—v.t. to wipe with a sponge: to wipe out, absorb up, with a sponge: to wipe out completely: to destroy.—v.i. to suck in, as a sponge: to gain by mean tricks, to live on others by some mean subterfuge or other.—ns. Sponge′cake, a very light sweet cake of flour, eggs, and sugar; Sponge′let, a little sponge.—adjs. Sponge′ous, Spon′giōse, Spongiolit′ic.—n. Spong′er, one who uses a sponge: a person or vessel engaged in fishing for sponges: an apparatus for sponging cloth by means of a perforated adjustable cylinder: a sponge or parasite.—adjs. Spongic′olous, inhabiting sponges; Spong′iform, resembling a sponge: porous.—ns. Spong′iness, porous quality; Spong′ing-house, a bailiff's lodging-house for debtors in his custody before their committal to prison; Spon′giōle, the spongy tissue of a root-tip; Spon′giolite, a fossil sponge spicule.—adj. Spongoid (spong′goid).—ns. Spongologist (spong-gol′ō-jist), one devoted to the study of sponges; Spongology (spong-gol′ō-ji), the knowledge about sponges.—adj. Spong′y, like a sponge, absorptive: of open texture, porous: wet and soft: drunken.—Set a sponge, to leaven a small mass of dough with which to leaven a large quantity; Throw up the sponge, to acknowledge defeat by throwing into the air the sponge with which a boxer is rubbed down between rounds: to give up any contest. [O. Fr. esponge—L. spongia—Gr. sponggia.]
Sponsal, spon′sal, adj. pertaining to a betrothal, a marriage, or a spouse.—n. Spon′sion, the act of becoming surety for another.—adj. Spon′sional. [L.,—spondēre, sponsum, to promise.]
Sponsible, spon′si-bl, adj. (Scot.) reliable: respectable.