spalt3 (spalt)

[ span1 (span), v.; pret. and pp. spanned, ppr. spanning. [ME. spannen, My right hand hath spanned [spread out, R. V.] the heavens. Isa. xlviii. 13. 2. To stretch from side to side or from end to end of; extend over or acro ; continue through or over the extent of. This soul doth span the world. G. Herbert, Content. The Rhyndacus is still spanned by an ancient bridge of three arches. B. Taylor , Lands of the Saracen, p. 295. IMG:content-1626.png:[blocks in formation] 4t. To cock by the use of a spanner, as a wheel- 7. Naut ., a rope fastened at both ends so that lock musket or pistol. Every man, officer and soldier, having a pistol ready spann'd in one hand. Clarendon , Civil Wars, III. 248. 5. Naut ., to confine with ropes: as, to span the booms.-6. To shackle the legs of, as a horse; hobble. [Prov. Eng.] II. in trans. 1. To measure off or mark distances from point to point; make distinct stretches in going, as a span-worm or measuring-worm does. If the whale is spanning , i. e. swimming decided direction and appearing at the surface at intervals more or le regular, le caution is observed. Encyc. Brit ., XXIV. 526. 2. To be matched for running in harne ; form a span: as, the horses span well. [U.S.] span1 (span), n. [ It. spanna = OF. espan, F. empan ) = Icel. spönn ( spann- ) = Sw. spann = Dan. spand, a span; from the verb.] 1. The full extent or course over which anything is stretched or prolonged; the space or time covered or included between terminal points; entire reach from end to end or from side to side: as, the span of life; the span of a bridge. As used of physical things, span is understood as the actual or net space or distance between bounding lines or surfaces; hence, the span of an arch is the length of the opening between the inner faces of its abutments. Compare def. 2. Often used figuratively. The brief span of Roman literature, strictly so called, was suddenly closed under a variety of influences. Maine , Village Communities, p. 381. Two arches over the same span of river, supposing the butments are at the same depth, are cheaper than one. Ruskin, Elements of Drawing. Yea, Manhood hath a wider span And larger privilege of life than man. Lowell , Comm. Ode. 2. A part or division of something between terminal points: as, a bridge of ten spans. In this sense a span would comprise the distance from the middle line of one pier or support to that of the next, the whole number of spans including the entire length of the structure. [The decision of the case referred to in the first quotation turned upon the distinction between senses 1 and 2.] The word span does not, even in architecture, always mean a part of a structure. It is, perhaps, as often used to denote the distance or space between two columns. Such is the obvious import of the term as used in the act under consideration, not merely as a part of the structure itself, but the measure of the distance between the piers of the bridge. U. S. Supreme Ct ., March, 1888. ( Judge Lamar .) The channel spans were built out from the central pier and from the adjacent flanking spans without the use of false works in either channel. Scribner's Mag., IV. 32. 3. Extent of stretch, physical or mental; distance over which anything may be extended; reach or grasp, as of the memory or of perception. [Rare.] Between the ages of eight and nineteen the span of school-girls increases from 6 to 7.9 for letters, and from 6.6 to 8.6 for numerals. Span increases not only with age, but with rank in cla , and it is suggested that a "standard span " be added to the items for anthropometric measurement. Amer. Jour. Psychol ., I. 193. 4. As a measure, originally, the extent between the tips of the thumb and little finger when stretched out: the oldest use of the word in English. The span belongs to the system of long measure to which the cubit and fingerbreadth belong. It has always been considered as half a cubit, and still is so in several countries of Asia. The English span is 9 inches. The Swedish spann is an entirely different kind of mea sure. Spanne , mesure of the hand. Palmus. Prompt . Parv., p. 467. Whyche Morteys ys in Depne e ij Spannys to the botom; the brede ys sumwhat more thane a Spanne . Torkington , Diarie of Eng. Travell, p. 43. Atween his shoulders was ae span , About his middle war but three. The Wee Wee Man (Child's Ballads, I. 126). 5. Figuratively, any short space or period; a small measure of continuity. years apart, and spans nearly the whole of Aquileian his- tory. E. A. Freeman , Venice, p. 63. 3. To make a stretch or reach along, over, or around; measure or cover the span of; grasp; specifically, to measure or encompa with the hand, the little finger and thumb being extended as far as po ible: as, to span a stream with a log or a bridge; to span a person's wrist. Oft on the well-known spot I fix my eyes, And span the distance that between us lies. Tickell, An Epistle. How your plump arms, that were, have dropped away! Why, I can span them. Browning, Pippa Pa es, lii. Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long. Book of Common Prayer, Psalter, xxxix. 6. For the refreshing of that one span of ground God lets fall a whole shower of rain. Donne, Sermons, x. Thyself but Dust; thy Stature but a Span , A Moment thy Duration; foolish Man! Prior , Solomon, i. 6. The hand with the fingers outspread, as for measuring or for grasping a handful of some- thing. [Rare.] And my Conductor, with his spans extended, Took of the earth, and, with his fists well filled, He threw it into those rapacious gullets. a purchase may be hooked to its bight; also, a double rope having thimbles attached between its two parts, used as a fair-leader for ropes.-8. (a) In the United States (from the original original Dutch usage), a pair of horses or mules harne ed together; particularly, a pair of horses usually driven together, or matched for driving or work. (b) In South Africa, two or more yokes of oxen or bullocks attached to a wagon or a plow. For a wagon the span may consist of from twelve to twenty animals, and for a plow of six or eight. span2. An archaic preterit of spin. span3 (span), adv. [The first element in the compound span- new erroneously taken as a separate word: see span - new, and cf. spick -and span.] Wholly; entirely; freshly: as, my hands are span clean (sometimes spandy clean). Bart lett. [Colloq., U. S.] spanæmia, spanæmic. See spanemia, etc. span-beam (span'bēm), n. The long, horizontal wooden beam into which the vertical axis carrying the drum of a horse-whim is pivoted. span-block (span'blok), n. Naut., one of two blocks seized into each bight of a span and hung acro a masthead for various uses. spancel (span's el), n. [ Spancel, a rope to tie a cow's hinder legs. Ray (ed. 1674), p. 44.