*spat*

{ } a. [ L. crispatus, p. p. of crispare. ] Having a crisped appearance; irregularly curled or twisted. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ CF. F. crispation. ] 1. The act or process of curling, or the state of being curled. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A very slight convulsive or spasmodic contraction of certain muscles, external or internal. [ 1913 Webster ]

Few men can look down from a great height without creepings and crispations. O. W. Holmes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being crispate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An ill-natured person. [ Colloq. ] “Crosspatch, draw the latch.” Mother Goose. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Ending in a point. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having cusps or points.
Syn. -- cuspated, cuspidal, cuspidate, cuspidated. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. & v. Same as Dispatch. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dispatched p. pr. & vb. n. Dispatching. ] [ OF. despeechier, F. dépêcher; prob. from pref. des- (L. dis-) + (assumed) LL. pedicare to place obstacles in the way, fr. L. pedica fetter, fr. pes, pedis, foot. See Foot, and cf. Impeach, Despatch. ] [ Written also despatch. ] 1. To dispose of speedily, as business; to execute quickly; to make a speedy end of; to finish; to perform. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ere we put ourselves in arms, dispatch we
The business we have talked of. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ The ] harvest men . . . almost in one fair day dispatcheth all the harvest work. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To rid; to free. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I had clean dispatched myself of this great charge. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To get rid of by sending off; to send away hastily. [ 1913 Webster ]

Unless dispatched to the mansion house in the country . . . they perish among the lumber of garrets. Walpole. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To send off or away; -- particularly applied to sending off messengers, messages, letters, etc., on special business, and implying haste. [ 1913 Webster ]

Even with the speediest expedition
I will dispatch him to the emperor's cou&unr_;&unr_;. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To send out of the world; to put to death. [ 1913 Webster ]

The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords. Ezek. xxiii. 47.

Syn. -- To expedite; hasten; speed; accelerate; perform; conclude; finish; slay; kill. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To make haste; to conclude an affair; to finish a matter of business. [ 1913 Webster ]

They have dispatched with Pompey. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. despeche, F. dépêche. See Dispatch, v. t. ] [ Written also despatch. ] 1. The act of sending a message or messenger in haste or on important business. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any sending away; dismissal; riddance. [ 1913 Webster ]

To the utter dispatch of all their most beloved comforts. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The finishing up of a business; speedy performance, as of business; prompt execution; diligence; haste. [ 1913 Webster ]

Serious business, craving quick dispatch. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To carry his scythe . . . with a sufficient dispatch through a sufficient space. Paley. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A message dispatched or sent with speed; especially, an important official letter sent from one public officer to another; -- often used in the plural; as, a messenger has arrived with dispatches for the American minister; naval or military dispatches. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A message transmitted by telegraph. [ Modern ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Dispatch boat, a swift vessel for conveying dispatches; an advice boat. --
Dispatch box, a box for carrying dispatches; a box for papers and other conveniences when traveling.

Syn. -- Haste; hurry; promptness; celerity; speed. See Haste. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who dispatches. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Bent on haste; intent on speedy execution of business or any task; indicating haste; quick; as, dispatchful looks. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. despechement. ] The act of dispatching. [ Obs. ] State Trials (1529). [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Dispathies [ Pref. dis- + Gr. &unr_; passion. See Pathos. ] Lack of sympathy; want of passion; apathy. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Many discrepancies and some dispathies between us. Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , n. [ G. feldspath; feld field + spath spar. ] (Min.) A name given to a group of minerals, closely related in crystalline form, and all silicates of alumina with either potash, soda, lime, or, in one case, baryta. They occur in crystals and crystalline masses, vitreous in luster, and breaking rather easily in two directions at right angles to each other, or nearly so. The colors are usually white or nearly white, flesh-red, bluish, or greenish. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The group includes the monoclinic (orthoclastic) species orthoclase or common potash feldspar, and the rare hyalophane or baryta feldspar; also the triclinic species (called in general plagioclase) microcline, like orthoclase a potash feldspar; anorthite or lime feldspar; albite or soda feldspar; also intermediate between the last two species, labradorite, andesine, oligoclase, containing both lime and soda in varying amounts. The feldspars are essential constituents of nearly all crystalline rocks, as granite, gneiss, mica, slate, most kinds of basalt and trachyte, etc. The decomposition of feldspar has yielded a large part of the clay of the soil, also the mineral kaolin, an essential material in the making of fine pottery. Common feldspar is itself largely used for the same purpose.

{ , a. Pertaining to, or consisting of, feldspar. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , n. (Min.) See Feldspar. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Feldspathic. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ LL. ] See Raspatory. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. raspatorium: cf. F. raspatoir. See Rasp, v. ] A surgeon's rasp. Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. of Spit. [ Obs. or R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From the root of spit; hence, literally, that which is ejected. ] A young oyster or other bivalve mollusk, both before and after it first becomes adherent, or such young, collectively. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. & t. To emit spawn; to emit, as spawn. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Pat. ] 1. A light blow with something flat. [ U.S. & Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, a petty combat, esp. a verbal one; a little quarrel, dispute, or dissension. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To dispute. [ R. ] Smart. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Spatted; p. pr. & vb. n. Spatting. ] To slap, as with the open hand; to clap together; as the hands. [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Little Isabel leaped up and down, spatting her hands. Judd. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Short for Spatterdash. ] 1. A legging; a gaiter. [ Scot. & Dial. Eng. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A kind of short cloth or leather gaiter worn over the upper part of the shoe and fastened beneath the instep; -- chiefly in pl. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to the Spatangoidea. -- n. One of the Spatangoidea. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. See Spatangus, and -oid. ] (Zool.) An order of irregular sea urchins, usually having a more or less heart-shaped shell with four or five petal-like ambulacra above. The mouth is edentulous and situated anteriorly, on the under side. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. L. spatangius a kind of sea urchin, Gr. &unr_;. ] (Zool.) A genus of heart-shaped sea urchins belonging to the Spatangoidea. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Spitchcock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. speid. ] A river flood; an overflow or inundation. Burns. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gareth in a showerful spring
Stared at the spate. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Spathae [ L. ] (Bot.) A spathe. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Having a spathe; resembling a spathe; spathal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Furnished with a spathe; as, spathal flowers. Howitt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. spatha, Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. spathe. See Spade for digging. ] (Bot.) A special involucre formed of one leaf and inclosing a spadix, as in aroid plants and palms. See the Note under Bract, and Illust. of Spadix. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The name is also given to the several-leaved involucre of the iris and other similar plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Having a spathe or calyx like a sheath. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. spathique, fr. F. & G. spath spar. ] Like spar; foliated or lamellar; spathose. [ 1913 Webster ]

Spathic iron (Min.), siderite. See Siderite (a). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. spathiforme. ] Resembling spar in form. “The ocherous, spathiform, and mineralized forms of uranite.” Lavoisier (Trans.). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Min.) See Spathic. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Spathe. ] (Bot.) Having a spathe; resembling a spathe; spatheceous; spathal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Spathose. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Spatulate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to space. “Spatial quantity and relations.” L. H. Atwater. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. As regards space. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. spatiatus, p. p. of spatiari, fr. spatiatum. See Space. ] To rove; to ramble. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Spattered p. pr. & vb. n. Spattering. ] [ From the root of spit salvia. ] 1. To sprinkle with a liquid or with any wet substance, as water, mud, or the like; to make wet of foul spots upon by sprinkling; as, to spatter a coat; to spatter the floor; to spatter boots with mud. [ 1913 Webster ]

Upon any occasion he is to be spattered over with the blood of his people. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To distribute by sprinkling; to sprinkle around; as, to spatter blood. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Fig.: To injure by aspersion; to defame; to soil; also, to throw out in a defamatory manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To throw something out of the mouth in a scattering manner; to sputter. [ 1913 Webster ]

That mind must needs be irrecoverably depraved, which, . . . tasting but once of one just deed, spatters at it, and abhors the relish ever after. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]