| 释义 |
▪ I. span, n.1|spæn|
Forms: 1 span(n, spon(n; 4 sponne, 4–7 spanne, 4–5 spane (5 spayn); 4– span, 6 spann, 8 spand.
[OE. span(n, spon(n, = WFris. span, EFris. sponne, MDu. (and Du.) spanne, MLG. spen(ne, OHG. spanna (MHG. and G. spanne, spann), ON. spann-, spǫnn (Icel. spönn, Norw. dial. spann, sponn; Sw. spann, Da. spand), app. related to spannan span v.2
The Germanic word is the source of med.L. spannus and spanna (spanga, spana), It. spanna, OF. espanne, espane, and espan (mod.F. empan). In OE. the word is very scantily recorded, and its currency after 1300 may be partly due to OF. influence. The form spayn, which also occurs in the vb., is abnormal, unless it represents an OF. espain which occurs as a variant of espan.]
1. a. The distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, or sometimes to the tip of the forefinger, when the hand is fully extended; the space equivalent to this taken as a measure of length, averaging nine inches.
Freq. followed by a positive or comparative adj.
c900tr. Baeda's Hist. iv. xi. (1890) 296 Þa wæs se lichoma sponne [v.r. spanne] lengra þære þryh. c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 158 Palmus, span uel handbred. a1310in Wright Lyric P. ix. 35 Swannes swyre swythe wel y-sette, A sponne lengore then y-mette. c1380Sir Ferumb. 1607 Þe swerd..clef him þanne, Til it hadde in-to is bodi i-soȝt by-nythe is brest a spanne. c1386Chaucer Prol. 155 Sche hadde a fair forheed. It was almost a spanne brood, I trowe. 14..Sir Beues (S.) 2509 A span long þey [i.e. bristles] were, wel rowe. c1440Promp. Parv. 467/1 Spanne, mesure of the hand, palmus,..palmata. 1483Cath. Angl. 351 A Spayn (A. Spane), palmus. 1535Coverdale Judges iii. 16 Ehud made him a two edged dagger of a spanne longe. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. I. 92/1 The space of his forehead betwixt his two eies was a span broad. 1660Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. ix. (1682) 39 There happen'd in the great Receiver a crack of about a Span long. 1671J. Webster Metallogr. xi. 158 They go no deeper than a span or two. 1718Free-thinker No. 47. 343 Pharao..was a Dwarf, but seven Spans high. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 276 The diameter..is twelve common spans, or near eight feet. 1811A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 36 The stems trailing, about a span in length. 1862Draper Intell. Devel. Europe xiii. (1865) 303 In which there are walking about men, a span long.
fig.a1350Geburt Jesu 40 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 66 Þe tyme hem þoȝte longe Inouȝ, ech vnche hem þouȝte a sponne. a1586Sidney Ps. xxxix. iii, Lo, thou a spanns length mad'st my living line. 1672Sir T. Browne Let. Friend §28 If we reckon up only those days which God hath accepted of our lives, a life of good years will hardly be a span long.
†b. In collective sing. with numerals. Obs.
a1300–1400Cursor M. 17288 + 138 So heghe be thre spane no nother graf þer is. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 43 Þai had cherubyn of gold xii. span lang. c1440Jacob's Well 194 Þis handle muste be iiij. spanne in lengthe.
c. Const. of (the hand) or with possessive.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 186 The ears of it are large and broad,..being at the least as broad as a mans span. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. iii. Disc. 15. 34 So must we take the measures of eternity by the span of a mans hand. 1855Bain Senses & Int. ii. ii. §12, I can appreciate a distance of six or eight inches by stretching the thumb away from the fingers, as in the span of the hand.
d. fig. Capability of spanning or grasping.
c1800H. K. White Lett. (1837) 284 Below the span of my auditory nerve.
2. The hand with the thumb and fingers extended, esp. as a means of measuring. Obs. exc. arch.
1535Coverdale Isaiah xl. 12 Who hath measured heauen with his spanne, and hath comprehended all the earth of y⊇ worlde in thre fyngers? 1867Longfellow Dante, Inf. vi. 25 My Conductor, with his spans extended, Took of the earth.
3. A thing, piece, etc., of the length of a span; a very small extent or space.
13..Sir Beues 815 A spanne of þe groin be-forn Wiþ is swerd he haþ of schoren. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Pulley i, Let the worlds riches, which dispersed lie, Contract into a span. 1635Quarles Embl. ii. xiv. (1718) 118 Lord, what a nothing is this little span We call a Man! 1738Pope Universal Prayer vi, Yet not to Earth's contracted Span Thy Goodness let me bound. 1746Hervey Medit. (1818) 217 The landscape, large and spacious,..shrinks into a span. 1798Ferriar Certain Var. Man 198 It was not enough..to shorten a whole nation to three spans. 1841Elphinstone Hist. Ind. II. 242 There was not a span free from cultivation. 1850Tennyson In Mem. cxvii, Every grain of sand that runs, And every span of shade that steals.
4. a. A short space of time, esp. as the duration of human life; the (short) time during which a person lives.
Cf. Coverdale Ps. xxxviii. 6 Thou hast made my dayes a spanne longe.
1599Davies Immort. Soul Introd. xlv. (1742) 12, I know my Life's a Pain, and but a Span. 1607Shakes. Timon v. iii. 3 Tymon is dead, who hath out-stretcht his span. 1613― Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 140 You haue scarse time To steale from Spirituall leysure a briefe span. 1728Young Ode to King xvii, Jove mark'd for man A scanty span. 1742― Nt. Th. ii. 115–6 We censure nature for a span too short; That span too short, we tax as tedious too. 1788Burns Written in Friars-Carse Hermitage 37 Did many talents gild thy span? 1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. lxiii, Through their mortal span, In bloodier acts conclude those who with blood began. 1850Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xiv. (1853) 176 The span granted to the butterfly the child of a single Summer, may be long. 1870Morris Earthly Par. (1890) 307/1 So strangely shift men's lives in little span.
b. Const. of life, etc.
1633G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Porch lxxvii, Lifes poore span Make not an ell, by trifling in thy wo. 1683Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly 81 In so short a space, as the small Span of Life. 1771Beattie Minstr. i. xxv, Nor lessen of his life the little span! 1840M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sci. (ed. 5) xii. 101 In the short span of human life. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I. iv. 255 Whose lives were really prolonged beyond the common span of human existence.
5. a. The distance or space between the abutments of an arch, the supports of a beam, the piers of a bridge, the walls carrying a roof, etc.; the stretch or extent of this.
α1725W. Halfpenny Sound Building Pref., For want of knowing, when the Arch of either Spand being given, what must be the Arch of the other. Ibid. 20 Set off the Spand of the Intersecting Arch from v. to t. 1751― New Designs Chinese Bridges i. 7 A double truss'd Timber Bridge, whose Spand between the top of the Butment is 45 Feet.
β1736N. Hawksmoor London Bridge 35 The five Arches are in their Span as followeth. Ibid. 42 The two Bridges are very large in their Span. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Bridge, The span of the next arch is 56 feet. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 248 The Trustees..having used it for beams in a new warehouse at Liverpool, of more than thirty feet clear span. 1832G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 484 Owing to its height, the great span of the arch is not so perceptible. 1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. F 12, The span between the standards, a, a, being 16 feet. 1874J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 128 York Minster, with its choir of fifty feet span.
transf.1853Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 288 The Russians resorted to..difficult applications of carpentry to repair this breach, which, being of considerable span [etc.]. 1887Ruskin Præterita II. 59 About the span of an English lane that would allow two carts to pass.
fig.1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1891) 14 The great minds are those with a wide span, which couple truths related to, but far removed from, each other. 1889Spectator 5 Oct., Congresses might be dismissed on the ground that it is impossible they can do anything to widen the span of knowledge.
b. (See first quot.) rare.
1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports i. i. x. § 1. 82 The three first [antlers] are termed the rights;..the horn itself, the beam; the width, the span. 1873Black Pr. Thule xxv. 414 You will discourse..of the span and the pearls, of the antlers and the crockets.
c. Psychol. Mental extent; the amount of information that the mind can be conscious of at a given moment, or the number of items it can reproduce after one presentation; esp. const. of, as span of apprehension, attention, consciousness, etc. Cf. memory span s.v. memory 12.
1887Mind XII. 76 The highest number correctly reproduced is to be regarded as the limit which we wish to find, and which we term here the span. Ibid. 79 We might expect that ‘span of prehension’ should be an important factor in determining mental grasp. 1890W. James Princ. Psychol. I. xi. 405 The question of the ‘span’ of consciousness [sc. to how many things can we attend at once] has often been asked and answered. 1922R. S. Woodworth Psychol. xi. 262 The ‘span of attention’ for objects..is measured by discovering how many such objects can be clearly seen, or heard, or felt, in a single instant of time. Measurement of this ‘span’ is one of the oldest experiments in psychology. 1945Mind LIV. 165 She reduced the number of choices to a range lying within or just within the ‘span of attention’ of her subjects. 1971Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. Jan. 129 No matter how high the level of luminance, the span of apprehensions will not exceed eight items during the critical interval. 1979R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) iii. ii. 312 The child was very bright and had a long attention span.
d. The maximum lateral dimension of an aircraft, or of a wing, from wing tip to wing tip.
1909R. Kennedy Flying Machines ii. 34 It will be difficult to get a monoplane of sufficient span for heavy lifts, together with a strong construction. 1927C. L. M. Brown Conquest of Air vii. 98 It was a biplane, the two main wings being 32 ft. in frontal width (span) and 5 ft. in depth (chord). 1953New Biol. XIV. 73 A vulture has a broad wing of large surface area as well as large span. 1968Miller & Sawers Technical Devel. Mod. Aviation v. 137 For the first time Douglas made a basic change in the wing..and increased the span by 10 feet to give greater lift and fuel capacity.
e. A range of numerical values; the difference between the highest and lowest values in a range.
1962Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Processing (B.S.I.) 13 Range. 1. All the values which a quantity may have. 2. The difference between the highest and lowest of these values (in mathematics often called the span). 1974Physics Bull. Jan. 31/3 The series covers the temperature range 223 to 573 K in eight spans.
f. span of control: in Business Studies, the area of activity, number of functions or subordinates, etc., for which an individual or organization is responsible.
1937L. Gulick in Gulick & Urwick Papers on Sci. of Administration i. 7 Span of control. Just as the hand of man can span only a limited number of notes on the piano, so the mind and will of man can span but a limited number of immediate managerial contacts. 1956E. Bridges in A. Dunsire Making of Administrator 5 He will look to see that too many people are not reporting to any one head—that the ‘span of control’ or of management as they call it, is not too wide. 1962Rep. Comm. Broadcasting 1960 226 in Parl. Papers 1961–2 (Cmnd. 1753) IX. 259 Since there might well be some scores of companies, it is highly unlikely that a corporation could exercise its responsibilities effectively; the ‘span of control’ would be too great. 1976P. R. White Planning for Public Transport i. 20 Operation of private party coach hire or excursions may require frequent decisions on pricing and scheduling, and hence a small span of control for each manager is desirable.
6. a. An arch of a bridge; a section between two piers. Also transf., the vault of the sky.
a1806H. K. White Sonn. ix, In the drear silence of the polar span Dost thou repose? 1862Rep. Direct. E. Midl. Railway Cy. 18 Six spans of the Keeul Bridge are erected since I last reported on the subject. 1891Lovett U.S. Pictures 39 The total weight of the whole central span is 6,740 tons.
b. Naut. (See quot.)
1846A. Young Naut. Dict. 289 A Span of Rigging, implies the length of shrouds from the dead-eyes on one side, over the mast-head, to the dead-eyes on the other side of the ship.
c. A stretch, line, or extent of something.
1894Outing XXIII. 374/1 The cocoa-nuts hanging from the long, almost unbroken span of cocoa palms that line the beach.
7. Math. That which is generated by the elements of some set. Cf. span v.1 6.
1968D. Passman Permutation Groups ii. 155 We define the span of A, Span A, to be the subspace of FG spanned by all the functions aij. We list some basic properties of the span. 1981Sci. Amer. Oct. 153 (caption) Their [sc. vectors'] span is a plane because any point in the plane can be reached by vectorially adding some scalar multiple of A to some scalar multiple of B.
8. attrib. and Comb., as span-breadth, span-extent, span-girth, span-length, span-line; (sense 5 c) span test; span-broad, span-lived adjs.; (poet.) spanlong, span-wide adjs.; span loading Aeronaut., the gross weight of an aircraft divided by its wing span or, more commonly, by the square of the wing span; also transf., of a bird; span wire, each of the series of wires suspended across the route of a tram or trolleybus to carry the overhead electric wire; span-worm U.S. = looper1.
1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. viii. 228 In the largest place they have six foote, and in the narrowest a *spanne bredth.
1599Nashe Lenten Stuff Wks. (Grosart) V. 226 In the correlatiue analagie of the *spanbroad rowse running betwixt.
1655Vaughan Silex Scint. i. Resurr. & Immort. (1858) 26 At last..She wing'd away, And, proud with life and sence Esteem'd..of two whole Elements As meane, and *span-extents.
1807Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 937 No more his *span-girth shanks and quiv'ring thighs Upheld a body of the smaller size.
c1440Jacob's Well 170 Þe secunde *spanne lengthe of þe handyll. 1756Nugent Gr. Tour, Germany II. 335 They make steel chains so prodigious fine of a span length, that [etc.].
1838Penny Cycl. XI. 325/2 The shorter radii describing the two quadrants at the spring of the arch, are upon the *span-line itself.
1846C. G. Prowett Prometh. Bound 26 Can that *span-lived race avail To succour thee in this distress?
1929Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIII. 359 This..depends primarily on ‘*span loading’ that is weight/(span)2. 1953New Biol. XIV. 72 The sinking speed is a function of the ‘span loading’, i.e. weight/wing span. A low sinking speed can only be achieved by having a wing span which is large relative to the weight of the bird. 1983D. Stinton Design of Aeroplane iv. 120 In straight and level flight the lift loading across the span..is equal to..the weight of the aircraft divided by the wingspan. Both are referred to collectively as the span loading.
1957Blunden Poems of Many Years 281 *Spanlong rabbits quite forget danger's eye.
1971Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. Apr. 238 We have here a well-defined figural-span measure which does not link with other *span tests.
1943E. Muir Narrow Place 7 Was this the ground That stretched beyond the *span-wide world-wide ditch.
1891Electr. World 21 Mar. 225/1 In the case of side pole and *span wire, construction poles should be placed at the points represented and a span wire run between them. 1963A. T. Dover Electric Traction (ed. 4) xxiii. 358 At curves the span wire must be on a level with the trolley wire, otherwise the hangar will be pulled out of the vertical.
1820Amer. Farmer I. 375/3 What can our obliging correspondents tell us about the..best method of destroying that dreadful plague of our orchards, the *span worm. 1903[see measuring ppl. a. b]. 1972Swan & Papp Common Insects N. Amer. xix. 293 The Bruce spanworm is a major defoliator of aspen in the prairie regions.
▪ II. span, n.2|spæn|
Also 8–9 spann.
[a. Du. and LG. span (also MDu. and MLG.; G. spann, dial. span), f. spannen to unite, fasten, etc. Cf. OE. ᵹespan(n, ᵹespon(n in related senses.]
1. Naut. One or other of various ropes or chains used as fastenings or means of connexion (see quots.).
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Span, a small line.., the middle of which is usually attached to a stay, from whence the two ends branch outwards to the right and left, and having either a block or thimble attached to their extremities. 1794Rigging & Seamanship 281 Each of these chains has..a large iron ring, to which is fastened a chain, called an up-and-down span. 1841Dana Seaman's Man. 124 Span, a rope with both ends made fast, for a purchase to be hooked to its bight. 1846A. Young Naut. Dict. 289 Span,..a double rope with thimbles seized betwixt the two parts, stretched across the rigging as a fair-leader for ropes. c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 8 What tackles are used for hoisting the launch in and out? The stays (fitted with a span) between the fore and main mast. Ibid. 55 A chain span is shackled to the bolts, and the slips are rove round the span and shackled to the cable. 1894Labour Commission Gloss. 76 Span, a length of chain or wire rope used for suspending ‘derricks’..to the masts of ships.
2. U.S. and Canada. A pair of horses harnessed and driven together, esp. a pair as nearly alike in colour and size as possible.
1769Boston Gaz. 2 Oct. (Thornton), Wanted, a Spann of good Horses for a Curricle. 1828P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 54 A span (pair) of horses is a common expression through all the state of New York, and even as far as Upper Canada. 1840Haliburton Clockm. Ser. iii. xviii. 248 If any man will show me a hoss that can keep it up as he has done.., I'll give him old Clay for nothin', as a span for him. 1841Catlin N. Amer. Ind. xlv. (1844) II. 81 A snug span of little horses. 1883Harper's Mag. Mar. 572/1 She had her open landau and her span for summer driving.
transf.1860O. W. Holmes Prof. Breakf.-t. vii, I'd as lief undertake to keep a span of elephants.
fig.1884Athenæum 20 Sept. 364/1 Thus ran this span of printing-houses, driven by Barker, neck and neck.
3. S. Africa. A team of oxen or other draught animals consisting of two or more yokes.
1812A. Plumtre Lichtenstein's S. Africa I. 192 They could not get on the rest of the way without a double Spann. 1850R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 124/2 My large waggon stuck fast, but was extricated with the help of another span. 1893F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 13 The fine span of oxen that had belonged to Mr. Collinson.
4. A fetter or shackle. (Cf. span v.2 1 b.)
1856Whittier Panorama 322 To them the Law is but the iron span That girds the ankles of imbruted man.
Add:[3.] b. A team or gang, esp. of workers; a work party.
1913M. Cleaver Young S. African 75, I suppose the old span in the Specials [i.e. police] is getting less and less as they are drafted off to the front. 1949H. C. Bosman Cold Stone Jug 107, I said..that we were greatly privileged to have Jimmy Gair in our span. He reflected very great honour on the stone-yard. 1956A. Sampson Drum xiv. 190 After breakfast we were divided into many work ‘spans’ (parties). I spent my first day with a span cutting grass. 1969A. Paton Kontakion 87 The group with which each boy paraded was called his span, which is the Afrikaans word for ‘team’ or ‘gang’. 1976Darling 3 Mar. 67, I have six labourers... I try to lead by example... I can do this with a small span of six, but when there are more their negative attitudes are too strong for me. 1986M. Dingake in N. Mandela Struggle is my Life (1988) iii. ii. 222 There was a possible glimpse of some communal section span..hidden in the wood along the road to give us a clear passage.
▪ III. span, n.3 dial. and Hist.
[ad. ON. spann (Norw. and Sw. spann, Da. spand), = MLG. and LG. spann, span pail, measure.]
A certain measure of butter (in Orkney and the north of Scotland).
1502in A. Peterkin Rentals Orkney (1820) 4 In butter scat j span. Ibid., In butter scat uther half span. 1861C. Innes Sk. Early Scotch Hist. 77 It was the established usage of Caithness, that for every score of cows a span of butter should be paid to the bishop. 1872A. P. Forbes Kalend. Sc. Saints 262 The usage was to take a span of butter for every twenty cows.
▪ IV. span, v.1|spæn|
Also 5 Sc. spayn, 7 spanne.
[f. span n.1 Cf. OE. ymbspannan and spanning; G. spannen (rare), Icel., Norw., Sw. spanna, ON. spenna, OF. espaner, in similar senses. The form spayn is peculiar: see note to span n.1]
I. trans.
†1. To grasp, lay hold of, seize. Obs.
1375Barbour Bruce iii. 582 And newys..That wont to spayn gret speris war, Swa spaynyt aris, that [etc.]. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xxxviii. (Bodl. MS.), [The dragon] lurkeþ in weies where þe Elephaunte goþ and bindeþ and spanneþ his legges and sleeþ hym and strangeleþ hym. c1420Avow. Arth. xiii, Thenne the kinge spanos his spere, Opon that bore for to bere. 1513Douglas æneid iii. iii. 111 Doun fallis sailis, the airis sone we span.
2. a. To measure by means of the outstretched hand; to cover with the hand in this way.
† to span farthings, to play at span-farthing.
1560Bible (Geneva) Isaiah xlviii. 13 My right hand hathe spanned the heauens. 1570Levins Manip. 20 To span, palmare. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise V. 185 That we should take vpon vs to spanne with our fingers, and measure with our arme the miracles of God. 1688S. Penton Guardian's Instruction (1897) 50 His main design is to..go home again to spanning farthings. 1706Stevens Span. Dict. 1, Xéme, half a Foot, or as much as a Man can span with his Thumb and Fore-finger. 1818Keats Endym. i. 499 For still, with Delphic emphasis, she spann'd The quick invisible strings [of the lute]. 1866J. E. Brogden Prov. Lincs., Span, to measure a distance by flattening the hand and stretching the thumb and middle finger. 1899N. & Q. 9th Ser. III. 185/1 So that he could span the distance by the fingers of the hand.
†b. To measure in any way. Obs.
1641Milton Ch. Govt. i. Wks. 1851 III. 99 To comprehend the hidden causes of things, and span in his thoughts all the various effects that passion..can worke in mans nature. 1648― Sonn. To H. Lawes, Harry, whose tuneful and well measur'd Song First taught our English Musick how to span Words with just note and accent. 1717T. Tickell Ep. fr. Lady 3 Oft on the well-known Spot I fix my Eyes, And Span the Distance that between us lies.
†c. To measure out; to set a limit or bound to (life, etc.). Obs.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 223 My life is spand already: I am the shadow of poore Buckingham. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Bunch of Grapes ii, For as the Jews of old by God's command Travell'd, and saw no town; So now each Christian hath his journeys spann'd. 1657Bp. H. King Elegy on G. Adolphus Poems (1843) 71 Death hath spann'd thee.
d. To encircle or encompass (the waist, wrist, etc.) with the hand or hands.
1781Cowper Truth 155 She recollects her youth, And tells, not always with an eye to truth, Who spann'd her waist. 1797–1809Coleridge Three Graves iv. xi, And oft she said, I'm not grown thin! And then her wrist she spanned. 1830Marryat King's Own xxiv, ‘If I ever am in your list, I presume it will be for a case of plethora,’ replied Jerry, spanning his thin waist. 1841Browning Pippa Passes iii. Poet. Wks. 1863 II. 54 How your plump arms..have dropped away! Why, I can span them!
3. a. Of the rainbow, a bridge, etc.: To form an arch across or over (the sky, a river, etc.); to stretch or extend over in the form of an arch; to cross from side to side. Also transf. or fig.
(a)1633G. Herbert Temple, Content v, This soul doth span the world, and hang content From either pole unto the centre. 1742Young Nt. Th. iv. 418 He looks down On all that soars; and spans immensity. 1781Cowper Table-T. 702 Fancy, that from the bow that spans the sky Brings colours. 1816Shelley To Peacock 12 July, A rainbow spanned the lake. 1866Neale Seq. & Hymns 123 O, sweet Rainbow,..That some day, One Onely Church shall span. a1881Rossetti House of Life xii, Two souls softly spann'd With one o'erarching heaven of smiles and sighs.
(b)1736N. Hawksmoor London Bridge 40 The Bridge at Rochester..spans a noble and deep River, 550 Feet wide. 1833L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 7 The bridge..spans the stream with nine wide arches. 1853Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 177 The width [of the river] here was 700 feet, and twenty-seven boats were required to span it. 1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 201 Its waters are spanned by a fine stone bridge.
b. transf. To reach or extend over (space or time).
1624Donne Devot. (ed. 2) 63 Our thoughts,..that doe not only bestride all the Sea, & Land, but span the Sun and Firmament at once. 1872Liddon Some Elem. Relig. ii. 39 His thought spans the intervening desert. 1879A. W. Ward Chaucer i. 5 Chaucer's life..spans rather more than the latter half of the fourteenth century.
4. a. To stretch out (the thumb) as in spanning.
1676Mace Musick's Mon. 74 Bring up your Left-Hand from the Table, bended, just like the Talents of a Hawk; All, excepting your Thumb, which must stand Strait; and Span'd out.
b. To throw as an arch or bridge.
a1861T. Woolner My Beautiful Lady, Day Dream 30 Clutching at rainbows spanned across the sky!
5. a. To throw a bridge across (a river, etc.); to bridge over.
1861Smiles Engineers II. 176 Telford spanned both these straits with suspension road bridges. 1876R. Routledge Discoveries 1 Science has spanned great rivers and estuaries with bridges of form unknown to our fathers.
transf.1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) II. 54 He is the mediator who spans the chasm which divides them. 1876Blackie Songs Relig., etc. 233 Not in vain God with lavish blooms of beauty Spanned the slope, and sowed the plain.
b. To cross (a bridge). rare—1.
1894H. Gardner Unoff. Patriot 121 The Long Bridge was spanned and the strange party drove down Pennsylvania Avenue.
6. Math. To generate. Cf. span n.1 7.
1941Birkhoff & MacLane Survey Mod. Algebra vii. 170 This subspace is evidently the smallest subspace containing all the given vectors; hence it is called the subspace generated or spanned by them. 1964A. P. & W. Robertson Topological Vector Spaces i. 3 If L is a linearly independent subset of a vector space E and if S is a subset containing L and spanning E, there is a base B of E with L ⊂ B ⊂ S. 1981Sci. Amer. Oct. 156/2 For example, the u–v plane is a vector space that can be spanned by two vectors directed along the positive u and v axes.
II. absol.
7. To make a span over something; to reach with or as with a span; to stretch or range from one place or point to another. Chiefly fig.
1535Coverdale Isaiah xlviii. 13 My honde is the foundacion of the earth, & my right honde spanneth ouer the heauens. 1592Lyly Midas v. iii. 104 Though my hande bee golde, yet I must not thinke to span ouer the maine Ocean. a1652J. Smith Sel. Disc. vi. xiii. (1821) 300 The prophetical spirit..is most quick, spanning as it were from the centre to the circumference. 1657Bp. H. King Elegy on G. Adolphus Poems (1843) 71 Thou might'st Vienna reach, and after span From Mulda to the Baltick Ocean. 1899N. & Q. 9th Ser. III. 185/1 If he..spanned accordingly, the button of the first player became his. 1976Offshore Platforms & Pipelining 151/1 Any relatively stiff pipeline laid in a wavy seabed will span in places.
8. Whaling. (See quot.)
1888Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 526/2 If the whale is ‘spanning’, i.e., swimming in a decided direction and appearing at the surface at intervals more or less regular.
▪ V. span, v.2|spæn|
[ad. Flem., Du., or LG. (also MDu. and MLG.) spannen, = OHG. spannan (G. spannen), OFris. spanna, sponna, OE. spannan to fix or fasten, to join, to draw tight, etc. Cf. also It. spannare, from Germanic.]
1. a. trans. To harness or yoke (oxen, horses, etc.); to attach to a vehicle. Also with in and out: see inspan v. and outspan v.1 (Cf. spang v.3) Also absol.
In later use chiefly from S. African Dutch.
1550Coverdale Spir. Perle vi. (1588) 70 He spanneth hys oxen, and goeth to the field. 1644[Walsingham] Effigies True Fortitude 15 Whil'st horses were span'd in to draw off the peices. 1656Davenant Siege of Rhodes Wks. (1672) 23 Those Horses to that Carriage span! Drive, drive!
1793J. Baxter Jrnl. 2 Feb. in Amer. Speech XL. (1965) 199, I and John Schenck spaned in together. 1836A. F. Gardiner Journ. Zoolu Country 303 We left Berea, and spanned out on the flat. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Span,..to attach draught cattle to a wagon. 1894Westm. Gaz. 11 Sept. 8/1 So one day he spanned-in his mules..and leisurely trekked to the widow's homestead.
b. dial. To fetter or shackle (a horse).
1847in Halliwell. 1865R. Hunt Pop. Rom. W. Eng. (1871) Ser. i. 112 There, by the roadside, stood an old, bony white horse, spanned with its halter. 1880–in dial. glossaries (Cornw., Sussex, Kent).
c. transf. To enclose or confine.
1844Lowell Fatherland i, Doth not the yearning spirit scorn In such scant borders to be spanned?
2. a. To stretch, extend, make taut or tight; to draw (a bow). Now arch.
The sense appears earlier under spanning vbl. n.2
1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 20/1 Where as the inferior parte of the bellye is full of windes, and stiflye stretched out and spanned. Ibid. 45 b/1 The Ligature wil in one place be loosened, and in another spanned. 1658A. Fox Würtz' Surg. i. vii. 28 The stitches [in a wound] are so pull'd and spann'd, that they tear out. Ibid. ii. xxv. 155 With both hands keep it asunder, that the skin be spanned asunder. 1878B. Taylor Deukalion iii. i. 99 New bows I span, new arrows fill my quiver.
b. fig. with up.
1655Vaughan Silex Scint. i. 53 Be there before the shadows stretch and span up night. Ibid. 76 Faith spans up blisse.
3.
†a. To wind up the wheel-lock of (a pistol or musket) by means of a spanner. Obs.
1639R. Ward Animadv. Warre I. 296 In Marching or Trooping through a Towne forget not to have your Peeces spand. Ibid. 299 Span your Pistoll—This is performed by sinking the Pistoll into his Bridle hand, and taking the Spanner in his right hand, to put it upon the axeltree, and winding about the wheele till it sticke. 1649C. Walker Hist. Independ. ii. 249 A party of Horse..with Swords drawne and their pistols spanned. c1672Verney Mem. (1907) II. 345 Having Pistols before me, I drew one and held it in my hand, so that I could span it in a moment for ffear of a surprise.
b. To screw tight with a spanner.
1859F. A. Griffiths Artill. Man. (ed. 8) 209, 5. Gives shot and wad to 3, runs out, trains, and spans the breeching.
4. Naut. To fix, attach, fasten, or draw tight in some way. Also with in.
1781Archer in Naval Chron. XI. 287 Spaned the booms; saw the boats all made fast. 1820Scoresby Arc. Regions II. 231 A harpoon thus prepared with foreganger and stock, is said to be ‘spanned in’. 1852Burn Naval & Mil. Dict. ii. s.v., To span in the rigging. Ibid., To span the runners. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 640 Spanning a harpoon, fixing the line which connects the harpoon and its staff. Ibid., To span in the rigging, to draw the upper parts of the shrouds together by tackles, in order to seize on the cat-harping legs.
5. intr. Of horses: To form a span or pair; to match in colour and size. U.S.
1828Webster s.v., The horses span well. (New England.)
▪ VI. † span, v.3 Obs.—1
[repr. OE. spanan, = OS. and OHG. spanan, MDu. and MLG. spanen, etc. Cf. forspan v.]
trans. To allure, entice, or draw away (a person).
a1250Owl & Night. 1490 To mysdo one gode manne & his ibedde from him spanne.
▪ VII. span, a.
see spick and span. |