Their toil is so extreme that they can not endure it above four
hours in a day, but are succeeded by spells.
Garew.
4. A gratuitous helping forward of another's work; as, a logging spell.
[Local, U.S.]
Spell (?), n.[AS. spell a saying, tale, speech; akin to OS. & OHG.
spel, Icel. spjall,Goth. spill. Cf. Gospel, Spell to tell the letters
of.] 1. A story; a tale. [Obs.] "Hearken to my spell." Chaucer.
2. A stanza, verse, or phrase supposed to be endowed with magical
power; an incantation; hence, any charm.
Start not; her actions shall be holy as You hear my spell is
lawful.
Shak.
Spell, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spelled (&?;) or Spelt (&?;); p. pr. & vb.
n. Spelling.] [OE. spellen, spellien, tell, relate, AS. spellian, fr.
spell a saying, tale; akin to MHG. spellen to relate, Goth. spill&?;n.e
Spell a tale. In sense 4 and those following, OE. spellen, perhaps
originally a different word, and from or influenced by spell a
splinter, from the use of a piece of wood to point to the letters in
schools: cf. D. spellen to spell. Cf. Spell splinter.] 1. To tell; to
relate; to teach. [Obs.]
Might I that legend find, By fairies spelt in mystic rhymes.
T. Warton.
2. To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to
bewitch; to fascinate; to charm. "Spelled with words of power." Dryden.
He was much spelled with Eleanor Talbot.
Sir G. Buck.