sprit2 (sprit)

[Appar. a particular use of sprit, a sprout. Cf. sprot1, sprat1.] 1. A rush: same as sprat1, 1.-2. See the quotation. The object of the rubbing [in the modern Irish proce of bleaching linen], which is so e ential for many qualities of goods, is to remove small specks of brownish matter called sprits , which may appear here and there throughout the piece. Spons' Encyc. Manuf ., 1. 518. sprit3 (sprit), v. i. [A corruption of split, simulating sprit1.] To split. Hall i well. [Prov. Eng.] spritel (sprit), n. [Early mod. E. also spright (erroneously conformed to the spelling of light, night, etc.); I thus beheld the king of equal age Yield up the sprite with wounds so cruelly. Surrey, Eneid, ii. 2. A disembodied soul; a ghost; a shade. Thy haire vpon thy head doth stand vpright, As if thou hadst been haunted with a spright . Times' Whistle (E. E. T. S.), p. 102. 5. Milit ., same as morning - star , 2. sprinkled (spring'kld), a . [ sprinkle + -ed2.] Marked by small spots; appearing as if sprinkled 3. An elf; a fairy; a goblin. from a wet brush: specifically noting a kind of decoration of pottery, the edges of cheaply bound books, etc. Of these am I, who thy protection claim, A watchful sprite , and Ariel is my name. Pope, R. of the L., i. 106. When the frantick fitt inflamd his spright , His force was vaine. Spenser , F. Q., II. iv. 7. 51. Frame of mind; mood; humor; spirits: sometimes in the plural. Shak ., Macbeth, iv. 1. 127. Holy Spirit (which see, under IMG:content-1861.png:[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small] sprong2 (sprông), n . [Appar. a var. of prong2 .] 1. A prong pr of a fork, etc.-2. The stump of a tree or a tooth. [Prov. Eng. in both uses.] sprong3 (sprông), n. [Cf. sprug, sprig3.] The sparrow, Pa er domestic us. [Prov. Eng.] sproo, n. See sprew . sproot (spröt), n. A dialectal form of sprout . sprot1t (sprot), n. [Also dial. sprote ; sprota , sprout, stick, nail (=MD. sprot (> Wall. sp sprot ), a spro sporte , a round of a ladder, = OHG. sprozo, sprozzo, MHG. sprozze , a round of a ladder, G. spro , sprout, twig, = Icel. sproti = OSw. sprotte , sprout, twig, stick), spreótan , sprout: see sprout, v. Cf. sprout , n., sprit1, n., sprit2.] 1. A splinter; a fragment. Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 5783. And the i breken here speres so rudely that the Tron- chouns flen in sprotes and peces alle aboute the Halle. Mandeville , Travels, p. 238. 2. A rush: same as sprat1 , 1. sprot2 (sprot), n. [Early mod. E. also sprott, sprotte; halecula , OF. esplene ), = MD. sprot = MLG. LG. sprot = Dan. sprut , a sprat; so called as being orig. considered the young of the herring; lit. 'sprout,' i. e. 'young one,' a particular use of the noun represented by sprot1. Hence dial., and now reg., sprat : see sprat2 .] A fish: same as sprat2 . Pals- sprout (sprout), v. [ spruten , sprutan , a var. of spreótan (pret. spreát , pp. sproten ) = OFries. spruta = MD. spruyten, D. spruiten = MLG. spruten, LG. spruten = MHG. spriezen , G. sprie en , sprout; not found outside of Teut. Hence ult. ( sprutan , spreótan ) E. sprit1, v. (a secondary form of sprout ), sprit1, n., sprot1, spurt1, spirt1, spirtle, spurtle, etc., spout, sputter, etc.] I. seed or stock; begin to grow; spring: said of a young vegetable growth, or, by extension, of animal growth. That leaf faded, but the young buds did sprout on; which afterwards opened into fair leaves. Bacon , Nat. Hist., § 407. A mouth is formed, and tentacles sprout forth around it. W. B. Carpenter , Micros., § 517. 2. To put forth shoots; bear buds. The Night, to temper Daies exceeding drought, Moistens our Aire, and makes our Earth to sprout. IMG:content-1862.png:[merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small] Bru els Sprouts ( Bra ica oleracea, var. gemmifera ). (sprout'jer-mi-nā- shon), n . In bot . , the germination of a spore in which a small proce with a narrow base pro- trudes at one or more points on the surface of the spore, then a umes an elongated cylindri- cal form, and finally is detached as a sprout- cell. De Bary. IMG:content-1863.jpg:[graphic] After a shower a meadow sprouts with the yellow buds spruce (sprös), a . [Sc. also sprush ; prob. an of the dandelion. 3. To spring up; grow upward. To rain upon remembrance with mine eyes, That it may grow and sprout as high as heaven. Shak ., 2 Hen. IV., ii. 3. 60. These Vines I have seene grow so high that they have sprouted cleane above the toppe of the tree. IMG:content-1864.jpg:[blocks in formation] Now, my spruce companions, is all ready, and all things neat? Shak., T. of the S., iv. 1. 116. Be not in so neat and spruce array As if thou mean'st to make it holiday. IMG:content-1865.jpg:[graphic] Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon For simple sheep. IMG:content-1866.png:[blocks in formation] spruyte, D. spruite = MLG. LG. sprute, a sprout; from the verb. Cf. sprot1, sprit1, n.] 1. A shoot of a plant. (a) The young shoot from a germinating seed, or from a rootstock, tuber, etc., or frer the a tooting tip of a stolon (6) In a tree, shoot, generally from an adventitious bud, as from the root (a Stumps of trees lying out of the ground will put forth sprouts for a time. Bacon , Nat. Hist., § 29. Her [a vine's] highest sproot Is quickly levelled with her fading root. B. Jonson, The Barriers. Specifically-2. pl . Young coleworts. - A course of sprouts, a thrashing with switches or rods; a switch- ing; a birching; a castigation; hence, severe discipline. [Slang, U. S.] Bru els sprouts, a subvariety of the Savoy cabbage, originating in Belgium, in which the stem, which grows some 4 feet high, produces along its whole length from the axils of the early deciduous leaves branches with miniature heads an inch or two thick. The main head is small and of little value, but the sprouts are highly esteemed. See cut in next column, and compare sprout-cell (sprout's el), n. In fungi, a cell pro- duced by sprouting. Taffeta phrases, silken terms precise, Three-piled hyperboles, spruce affectation. Shak ., L. L. L., v. 2. 407. spruce For masts, ., those [firs] of Pru ia which we call spruce and Norway are the best. Evelyn , Sylva, I. xxii. § 2. Black spruce, Picea nigra, a species of spruce growing 50 or 60 feet high, found through British America, the northern United States, and in the Alleghanies to North Carolina. Its light soft wood is largely made into lumber, and is used in construction, in ship-building, for piles, etc. An e ence of is obtained from its branches, used in making spruce-beer. - Blue spruce. Same as white spruce (c). - Double spruce, the black spruce. - Douglas spruce, Pseudotsuga Douglas i i. See Pseudotsuga, and Ore gon pine (under pinel ). - E ence of spruce, a thick liquid with a bitterish acidulous astringent taste, obtained by boiling and evaporation from the young branches of the Norway spruce, the black spruce, and perhaps other species. It is used in making spruce-beer. - Hemlock spruce. See hemlock -spruce. Him a lay an or Indian spruce, Picea Morinda, of the temperate Him a lay as and Afghanistan, a tree 150 feet high, affording a pale straight-grained timber, durable shelter.New Zealand spruce, the imou-pine, or red pine, Dac rydium cupre inum, a beautiful tree with long weeping branches. From the young growth Captain Cook made an antiscorbutic IMG:content-1867.png:[blocks in formation] swamps. Single Branchlet, with Cone, of Norway Spruce spruce. Same as white spruce ( a ). (Picea excels a). IMG:content-1868.png:[blocks in formation] Pop . Sci . Mo., XIII. 289. is known among the woodsmen of northern New York as spruce - duff, which is composed of rotten spruce-trees, cones, needles, etc. spruce-fir (sprös'fèr), n. [A partial translation and accommodation (as if 'fir of Spruce' or Pru ia,