Spelt, v. t. & i. [See Spell a splinter.] To split; to break; to spalt.
[Obs.] Mortimer.
Spel"ter (?), n. [Cf. LG. spialter, G. & D. spiauter. Cf. Pewter.]
(Metal.) Zinc; -- especially so called in commerce and arts.
Spe*lunc" (?), n. [L. spelunca cave.] A cavern; a cave. [Obs.] Piers
Plowman.
Spence (?), n. [OF. despense, F. dépense, buffet, buttery, fr. OF.
despendre to spend, distribute, L. dispendere, dispensum. See Dispense,
Spend.] 1. A place where provisions are kept; a buttery; a larder; a
pantry.
In . . . his spence, or "pantry" were hung the carcasses of a sheep
or ewe, and two cows lately slaughtered.
Sir W. Scott.
Bluff Harry broke into the spence, And turned the cowls adrift.
Tennyson.
2. The inner apartment of a country house; also, the place where the
family sit and eat. [Scot.] Jamieson.
Spen"cer (?), n. [OF. despensier. See Spence, and cf. Dispenser.] One
who has the care of the spence, or buttery. [Obs.] Promptorium
Parvulorum.
Spen"cer, n. [From the third Earl Spencer, who first wore it, or
brought it into fashion.] A short jacket worn by men and by women. Ld.
Lutton.
Spen"cer, n. (Naut.) A fore- and-aft sail, abaft the foremast or the
mainmast, hoisted upon a small supplementary mast and set with a gaff
and no boom; a trysail carried at the foremast or mainmast; -- named
after its inventor, Knight Spencer, of England [1802].
Spencer mast, a small mast just abaft the foremast or mainmast, for
hoisting the spencer. R. H. Dana, Jr.
Spend (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spent (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Spending.]
[AS. spendan (in comp.), fr. L. expendere or dispendere to weigh out,
to expend, dispense. See Pendant, and cf. Dispend, Expend, Spence,
Spencer.] 1. To weigh or lay out; to dispose of; to part with; as, to
spend money for clothing.
Spend thou that in the town.
Shak.
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?
Isa. lv. 2.
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