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spang

noun, verb, adv — 9 senses

spang

noun

/ˈspæŋ/ · /ˈspeɪ̯ŋ/

Etymology From Middle English spang (“a small piece of ornamental metal; spangle; small ornament; a bowl or cup”), likely from Middle Dutch spange (“buckle, clasp”) or Old English spang (“buckle, clasp”).

1

Obsolete A shiny ornament or object; a spangle

  • With glittering spangs that did like starres appeare.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 45:
Derived terms
spangle

spang

verb

Etymology From Middle English spang (“a small piece of ornamental metal; spangle; small ornament; a bowl or cup”), likely from Middle Dutch spange (“buckle, clasp”) or Old English spang (“buckle, clasp”).

1

To set with bright points: star or spangle.

2

To hitch; fasten.

spang

adv

Etymology Onomatopoeic.

1

Dated Suddenly; slap, smack.

  • And I didn't stop until I found myself spang in the middle of the Musée de Cluny, clutching the rack.1936, Djuna Barnes, Nightwood, Faber & Faber, published 2007, page 22:

spang

verb

Etymology Onomatopoeic.

1

Of a flying object (such as a bullet), To strike or ricochet with a loud report.

  • Occasional bullets buzzed in the air and spanged into tree trunks.1895 October, Stephen Crane, chapter XVIII, in The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 173:
  • How clear, sweet, spanging the hammer blows!1918, Zane Grey, The U.P. Trail:

spang

noun

Etymology Uncertain. Cognate with Scots spang, and possibly related to English spank.

1

Scotland A bound or spring; a leap.

  • Set roast-beef and pudding on the opposite side o' the pit o' Tophet, and an Englishman will mak a spang at it—[…]1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter I, in Rob Roy. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 13:

spang

verb

Etymology Uncertain. Cognate with Scots spang, and possibly related to English spank.

1

Scotland, UK, Dialectal To leap; spring.

  • a. 1758, Allan Ramsay, epistle to Robert Yarde But when they spang o'er reason's fence, / We smart for't at our own expense.
2

Scotland, UK, Dialectal To cause to spring; set forcibly in motion; throw with violence.

spang

noun

Etymology See span

1

Scotland A span.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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