spinen.1
/spʌɪn/, U.S. /spaɪn/ I. A sharp-pointed projection, and related uses.† 2. The sting of a bee. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
1.
a. Botany. A stiff, sharp-pointed process produced or growing from the wood of a plant, consisting of a hardened or irregularly developed branch, petiole, stipule, or other part; a thorn; a similar process developed on fruits or leaves.Botanically distinguished from a prickle n.1, and sometimes also from a thorn, the latter being then restricted to processes originating from the epidermis only.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > thorn or prickle > [noun]
thornc950
pileOE
prickOE
pikec1300
spine1430
pricklec1484
brodc1550
sting1567
point1604
spears1607
stob1637
pin1650
pricket1663
spinet1672
aculeus1702
pricker1743
spicula1753
acicula1784
acicule1800
acicle1852
thornlet1882
sticker1889
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > projection or protuberance > [noun] > pointed projection > spine
spine1430
spininess?1611
spinule1752
acicula1784
acicule1800
aculeation1806
spinula1826
acicle1852
spinescence1859
1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes (1554) ii. xxxi. 67 Serue the Lorde.. Which for thy sake was crouned with a spine, His heart eke perced to saue thee fro ruine.
1601 A. Dent Plaine Mans Path-way to Heauen 40 The Crabstocke speines, which growe out of the root of the very best apple tree.
a1625 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) i. i. 1 Roses their sharpe spines being gon. View more context for this quotation
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Spine, a thorn, the sting of a Bee, a prickle.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 449 The spine, to which the pea adheres by a thread, is preserved entire.
1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. iii. 56 The tendrils, the spines, and other similar parts of plants.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. xiv. 318 [A cactus] which, including the spines, was six feet and four inches in circumference.
1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 75 (note) A branch of blackthorn with its spines.
1867 H. Macmillan Bible Teachings (1870) vii. 145 In the holly..the leaves which grow nearest the ground are thickly furnished with spines.
b. transferred. = needle n. 14.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > [noun] > needle or needles
needle1798
pine-straw1832
pine tag1835
pine needle1844
straw1856
spine1859
fir-brush1879
fir-needle1883
1859 A. K. H. Boyd Recreat. Country Parson ii. 28 There was not a breath of air through the spines of the firs.
1869 Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 623 A few years ago, no one imagined that the spines (foliage) of pine-trees could be converted into wool.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > sting of bee
prickc1350
prickle?c1425
spear1608
spine1656
bee-sting1689
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Spine, a thorn, the sting of a Bee, a prickle.
3. Anatomy. One or other of several sharp-pointed slender processes of various bones.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > parts of bones > [noun] > natural outgrowth or projecting part
process1565
production1578
apophysis1611
processus1664
probole1684
spine1706
ramus1731
spinous process1732
plectrum1792
buttress1824
epicondyle1828
spiculum1873
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Pectinis Os The upper Part of this Bone is call'd its Spine.
1726 A. Monro Anat. Humane Bones 107 Thro' the Middle of the Two Arches a small sharp Ridge runs, which has the Name of Spine bestowed on it by some, as indeed Anatomists commonly do apply this Name to all the long narrow-edged Protuberances of Bones.
1808 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 19 212 A very troublesome sensation near the spine of the left ilium.
1831 R. Knox tr. H. Cloquet Syst. Human Anat. (ed. 2) 99 At the middle part it is much diminished, and is limited by the two nasal spines.
1870 G. Rolleston Forms Animal Life 7 The spines of the dorsal vertebræ.
4.
a. Zoology. A stiff, pointed, thorn-like process or appendage developed on the integument of certain fishes, insects, or lower forms of animal life.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > covering or skin > [noun] > hard or protective covering > spine > on integument of lower animals
spine1721
needle1874
1721 R. Bradley Philos. Acct. Wks. Nature 148 On the forepart of its [an insect's] Body, near the Head, are placed two Branches..from which proceed several capillary Spines.
1748 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. I. 652 The various species of bodies allow'd to have been spines of the Echini.
1815 J. F. Stephens Shaw's Gen. Zool. IX. i. 42 At the bend of the wing, just within, is a horn-coloured spine, about one-eighth of an inch long, and blunt at the end.
1835 J. Duncan Nat. Hist. Beetles (Naturalist's Libr.: Entomol. II) 110 The tibiæ..are frequently beset with stiff bristles, and armed more or less with spines or spurs.
1888 G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson Forms Animal Life (ed. 2) 190 [In star-fish] the edges of a groove are bordered immediately by a series of fine moveable spines.
b. One of the prickles of a hedgehog, the quills of a porcupine, or similar growth on other animals.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > covering or skin > [noun] > hard or protective covering > spine
pikec1300
thornc1300
awl1340
prickle1567
prick1631
spine1753
acicula1784
acicule1800
acicle1852
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [noun] > order Insectivora > family Erinaceidae (hedgehog) > prickle of
pileOE
iles pil?c1225
pikec1300
pickc1400
piquant1494
spine1753
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Hystricomorpha (porcupine or guinea-pig) > [noun] > family Hystricidae (porcupine) > parts of
quill1590
pen1607
porcupine quill1664
porcupine stone1676
spine1753
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Erinaceus,..the common hedgehog... Its head, back, and sides, are covered with sharp spines.
1770 G. White Let. 22 Feb. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 77 No doubt their spines are soft and flexible at the time of their birth.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 107 In the one [species of porcupine], the spines are about an inch long; in the other, a foot.
1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. I. 128 Crested Porcupine. With very long spines on the back.
1840 E. Blyth et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 113 Some [rats] have spines mingled with their fur, as the Cairo Mouse.., which has spines on the back in place of hairs.
1870 J. Yeats Nat. Hist. Commerce 298 Bristles, hedgehog spines, and porcupine quills, are all modifications of hair.
c. Ichthyology. A spinous or spiny fin-ray; a fin-spine.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > parts of fish > [noun] > fin or parts of fin
finc1000
spitc1275
ray1668
pinna1688
radius1740
spine1774
interneural1854
fin-ray1863
mesopterygium1871
metapterygium1871
radiale1871
finlet1874
propterygium1876
radial1882
axonost1887
lepidotrichium1904
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VI. 189 These fins differ very much from those of other fishes, which are formed of straight spines.
1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. I. 476 Banstickle or Stickleback. Three spines on the back.
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling iii. 80 Master Perch..has sharp spines.
d. Conchology. A sharp projection of a shell.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Mollusca > [noun] > Testacea (shelled molluscs) > shelled mollusc > shell > part of
auricle1665
heel1673
lip1681
mouth1681
whirl1681
rib1711
antihelix1721
canal1734
columella1755
vesture1755
body whirl1776
fent1776
pillar1776
pillar-lip1776
septum1786
aperture1794
body whorl1807
costa1812
seam1816
spine1822
umbo1822
varix1822
peristome1828
summit1828
nucleus1833
concameration1835
lunula1835
nympha1836
nymph1839
lunule1842
peritreme1848
body chamber1851
axis1866
umbone1867
liration1904
1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 156 A subfusiform univalve;..the spine longish.
1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 203 Lip alæform; bent upwards on the spine.
5.
a. Any natural formation having a slender sharp-pointed form.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > sharp unevenness > [noun] > a sharp prominence > specifically of a natural object
thornc950
prickle1567
prong1698
spine1750
1750 tr. C. Leonardus Mirror of Stones 89 Its broad head..being put before the light, the Spine appears within.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VI. 490 The dendrons are possessed of numerous minute lateral projections, gemmules, spines, or ‘thorns’, as they have been variously called.
b. Needlework. (See quot. 1882.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > consisting of loops or looped stitches > lace > needle or point > parts of
pin work?1726
thorns1874
spine1882
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 458/1 Spines..are also called Pinworks, and are used to trim the raised Cordonnets that surround Spanish and Venetian Point Lace, and also other kinds of Point Lace. The Spines are long straight points that stick out from the edge of the Cordonnet.
c. A tall mass of lava projecting upwards from the mouth of a volcano.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > volcanic formations > [noun] > lava formations > plug
neck1876
plug1882
spine1903
tholoid1912
1903 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 166 270 The ancient summit of the mountain [sc. Mont Pelée] has lost most of its former prominence above the rim of the crater, but within the old Caldera a cone has risen which overtops the surrounding walls and terminates in a spine rising hundreds of feet above the main mass of the new cone.
1954 W. D. Thornbury Princ. Geomorphol. xix. 500 The rapid growth of plug domes is further illustrated by one on Santa Maria volcano on Guatemala... It had a spine which attained a height of 66 meters.
1976 P. Francis Volcanoes iii. 124 Evidence of just how viscous the lavas are,..was provided by the great spine which was pushed up out of the vent of Mt Pelée, reaching over 300 metres in height.
II. The backbone, and related uses.
6.
a. The spinal or vertebral column in man and vertebrates; the backbone. Also spine of the back; now dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > spine > [noun]
ridgeeOE
ridge boneOE
backbonea1300
chinec1300
rigbonec1400
spinac1400
spinec1400
spine-bonec1400
chine-bone?1533
vertebre1578
vertebre1623
vertebrasa1632
rachis1693
vertebres1696
vertebra1791
vertebral column1828
spinal column1866
(a)
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 973 Vnder the name of the Spine we comprehend all that which is extended from the first Racke-bone of the Necke vnto the Coccyx or Rumpe.1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iv. i. 180 So cannot other animals lye upon their backs; though the spine lye parallell with the Horizon, yet will their legs incline, and lye at angles unto it. View more context for this quotation1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. B5 Amongst Fishes..The Psettaceous, or plain and spinose, have a spine that seemeth to be divided in the midd'st.1794 W. Cowper Needless Alarm 7 Many a neighb'ring squire..Contusion hazarding of neck or spine.1827 N. Arnott Elements Physics I. 223 The head rests on the elastic column of the spine.1834 H. McMurtrie tr. G. Cuvier Animal Kingdom (abridged ed.) 27 The spine, most commonly, is continued into a tail.1867 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood I. i. 9 The horses stand..with their spines in a straight line.(b)1651 ‘A. B.’ tr. L. Lessius Sir Walter Rawleigh's Ghost 87 From the head, it..is extended through the spine of the back.1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 272 Having suspended some frogs..by means of metallic hooks fixed in the spines of their backs.c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 358 Of curis of woundis of þe spine ouþir spondilium.
b. transferred and figurative. A part or formation having the function of a backbone.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > main or central support
summer1324
spine1665
backbone1684
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 117 The leaf being..set into the Pedunculus,..receiveth from that not onely a Spine, as I may call it, which, passing through the leaf, divides its [etc.].
1807 J. Barlow Columbiad ix. 321 Yet what an age her shell-rock ribs attest! Her sparry spines, her coal-encumber'd breast!
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud xxiii. iv, in Maud & Other Poems 78 The shock Of cataract seas that snap The three-decker's oaken spine.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 23 Apr. 2/1 The span is the great arch that supports the first floor. The spine is the iron upright which runs outside the Tower from the second floor to the summit.
1912 J. Galsworthy Inn of Tranquility 189 The vice of drawing these distorted morals has permeated the Drama to its spine.
1977 New Yorker 9 May 126/2 A beauty called Laura..who is the spine of the place.
1977 P. Scupham Hinterland 44 Doors shake on their jambs: the spine of the house Thrills as the sprung wood quivers, and goes still.
1979 Tucson (Arizona) Mag. Mar. 8/2 No one cares or has the spine to sound off.
1981 F. Inglis Promise of Happiness i. 3 We try to say what some of the best books are like, so that we can hand them on... This expression of the gift relationship..gives spine and structure to this study.
c. A line or mark along the back.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > markings or colourings > [noun] > marking on back
saddle1766
spine1791
saddle mark1892
1791 W. Marshall Minutes in Rural Econ. W. Eng. (1796) II. 243 The Cattle,..Chiefly of a dark red color; a few of them with white Glocestershire spines.
7. The heart-wood or duramen of a tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > wood > [noun] > heart-wood or duramen
heart1324
core1604
spine1630
duramen1837
1630-1 [see spine-lath n. at Compounds 2].
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 261 If the Elm be fell'd between November and February, it will be all Spine, or Heart.
1825 [see spine-oak n. at Compounds 2]. 1863 [see spine-oak n. at Compounds 2]. 1883 M. P. Bale Saw-mills 336 Spine, is the name given to the mature wood of a tree, the outer layer being called alburnum or sapwood.
8. A ridge or elevated stretch of ground, rock, etc., having a position analogous to that of the backbone, or resembling it in some way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > ridge > [noun]
hoe?c700
rig?c1475
banda1522
ridgea1552
fall1749
dorsum1782
wave1789
spine1796
cuesta1818
bult1852
razorback1874
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 567 The spine, or highest ridge of the peninsula.
1852 Munday Antipodes (1857) 4 These spines of land, or rather rock, subdivide the south shore of Port Jackson.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxi. 148 These blocks ride upon a spine of ice, and form a moraine.
1895 G. Meredith Amazing Marriage II. xxxiv. 113 Mickleham, where the Surrey chalk runs its final turfy spine North-eastward.
9.
a. technical. A longitudinal ridge; a fin; a longitudinal slat of a riddle.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2269/2.
b. The back of a book, that is, the part bearing the title, etc., which is visible when the book is standing on a shelf; also, the corresponding part of a dust-jacket or a shallow box.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > parts of book > [noun] > back
dorsea1641
back1863
spine1922
shelf back1925
1922 M. Sadleir Excurs. in Victorian Bibliogr. 14 Be wary of books in cloth which bear no publisher's imprint on the spine.
1928 Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Dec. 985/3 The title of this book is misleading if given, as it is on the spine, without the limiting dates.
1931 Publisher & Bookseller 20 Feb. 345/2 The utility of having the selling price printed on the spine of a book jacket.
1952 V. Canning House of Seven Flies i. 24 He stared at the coloured spines of the books in the rack.
1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio vi. 113 Programme details are written..on the spine of the box in which it [sc. a tape] is kept.
1976 S. Brett So Much Blood i. 16 Brown velvet upholstery and the leather spines of books gave the quality of an old sepia photograph.
Compounds
C1.
a. In sense 6, as spine-ache, spine-case, spine-chisel, spine-pad, etc.; spinebreaker; spine-breaking, spine-broken adjs.; spine-wise adverb.
ΚΠ
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. I. 186 Astruc first distinguished this species [of Colic] by the name of Rhachialgia..literally ‘back-bone-ache or spine-ache’.
1823 T. Campbell To Mem. Spanish Patriots iii Smile o'er the gaspings of spine-broken men.
1825 J. M. Good Study Med. (ed. 2) IV. 679 Baron Larry speaks in terms of high commendation of the first, and especially in spine-cases, or paraplegia.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick cxxxiv. 613 Launch me, spine-wise, on the sea.
1882 E. A. Floyer Unexplored Baluchistan 120 We bumped, stumbled, and jolted in a most horribly spine-breaking, bone-dislocating manner.
1895 Catal. Surg. Instruments (Arnold & Sons) 93 Spine Chisel.
1895 Catal. Surg. Instruments (Arnold & Sons) 96 Spine Saw.
1895 Catal. Surg. Instruments (Arnold & Sons) 513 Spine Hook.
1900 I. Savory Sportswoman in India viii. 256 Not only [to] wear a large solá topi, but have a spine pad sewn inside the coat.
1947 D. Thomas Let. 11 June in Sel. Lett. (1966) 314 The hill to the nearest village is a spinebreaker.
b. In senses 1, 4.
(a)
spine-clad adj.
ΚΠ
1846 R. Patterson Introd. Zool. 43 In the harder, or spine-clad species [of Echinodermata].
spine-covered adj.
ΚΠ
1849 Sketches Nat. Hist.: Mammalia IV. 115 The Common Porcupine... This spine-covered animal is found in Italy [etc.].
spine-finned adj.
ΚΠ
1896 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. V. 335 The spine-finned fishes..are distinguished..by some of the anterior rays of the dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins usually taking the form of strong, unjointed, bony spines.
1896 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. V. 547 The extinct Spine-finned Sharks,—order Acanthodii.
spine-headed adj.
ΚΠ
1804 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. V. ii. 396 Spine-headed Sucker, Cyclopterus Bispinosus.
spine-like adj.
ΚΠ
c1880 Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 301 All the species of the Snake family..have minute vestiges of hind limbs, scale-like or spine-like.
1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 457 The four cells are attached to each other by means of rigid spine-like projections.
spine-pointed adj.
ΚΠ
1829 T. Castle Introd. Systematical & Physiol. Bot. 63 The apex of a leaf may..be..spine-pointed or cuspidate.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1062/2 A Peruvian shrub, with elliptic spine-pointed leaves.
spine-tailed adj.
ΚΠ
1802 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. III. i. 216 Spine-tailed Lizard, Lacerta Acanthura.
1860 G. Bennett Gatherings of Naturalist in Austral. viii. 180 That remarkable little bird, the..Spine-tailed Orthonyx.
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 183 Chæturinæ. Spine-tailed Swifts.
(b)
spine-cushion n.
ΚΠ
1884 F. O. Bower & D. H. Scott tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Anat. Phanerogams & Ferns 310 The leaf-bundles run..almost horizontally upwards towards the lower margin of the spine-cushion.
C2. Special combinations: See also spine-tail n.† spine-lath n. Obsolete a heart-lath.
spine-basher n. Australian slang a loafer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [noun] > lazy person > an idler or loafer
lurdanc1330
player1340
moochera1425
loon?c1450
lounger?a1513
idler1534
rest man1542
holiday-woman1548
baty bummill1568
bummill baty1568
friar-fly?1577
idol1579
lingerer1579
loll1582
idleby1589
shit-rags1598
blaitie bum1602
idle1635
Lollard1635
loiterer1684
saunterer1688
scobberlotchera1697
bumble1786
quisby1789
waffler1805
shoat1808
loafer1830
bummer1855
dead beat1863
bum1864
scowbanker1864
schnorrer1875
scowbank1881
ikey1906
layabout1932
lie-about1937
spine-basher1946
limer1964
1946 R. Rivett Behind Bamboo 399 Spinebasher, one always on his back, always resting.
1976 Sydney Morning Herald 20 Mar. 14 The elbow-benders, spine-bashers, eternal babblers keep one ear to the loudspeakers, an ear to the ground.
spine-bashing adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [noun] > behaviour
lomperingc1315
truandisea1400
sleuthingc1450
slugging1532
truanting1532
lusking1579
concessation1623
lazinga1626
lounging1793
loafing1838
bumming1857
mooch1859
loaf1860
sluggarding1864
flânerie1873
slobbery1912
spine-bashing1941
slobbing1960
lepak1993
lepaking1994
1941 Argus (Melbourne) Week-end Mag. 15 Nov. 1/4 Spine bashing, having a rest; loafing.
1945 L. Glassop We were Rats 208 ‘She's sweet,’ I said. ‘Go and do some spine bashing.’
1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. in Austral. & N.Z. vi. 135 Lying down and doing nothing, what the Australian calls spinebashing.
spine-bill n. one or other of two species of Australian honey-eaters of the genus Acanthorhynchus, characterized by their long spine-like bills.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > [noun] > family Meliphagidae (honey-eater) > other or miscellaneous types of
bell-bird1802
miner1832
myna1832
blue eye1841
spine-bill1848
stitch-bird1873
soldier-bird1881
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. IV. Pl. 61 Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris. Slender-billed Spine-bill.
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. IV. Pl. 62 A. superciliosus. White-eyebrowed Spine-bill.
1911 A. E. Mack Bush Days 52 Spine-bills flashed by.
1977 Daily News (Perth, Austral.) 19 Jan. 11/2 Weighing only 10 grams the spinebill can put on an extra 10 per cent body weight in one day.
spine-bone n. the spine; also transferred.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > spine > [noun]
ridgeeOE
ridge boneOE
backbonea1300
chinec1300
rigbonec1400
spinac1400
spinec1400
spine-bonec1400
chine-bone?1533
vertebre1578
vertebre1623
vertebrasa1632
rachis1693
vertebres1696
vertebra1791
vertebral column1828
spinal column1866
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 148 Þei strecchen doun to þe eeris [v.r. ers] in lenkþe biside þe spin boon [v.r. spyne bon].
1621 T. Lodge tr. S. Goulart Learned Summary Poeme of Saluste of Bartas i. 273 The marrow of the Spine-bone.
1897 H. Tennyson Alfred Ld. Tennyson: Mem. I. i. 20 ‘I used to stand on this sand-built ridge,’ my father said, ‘and think that it was the spine-bone of the world.’
spine-chiller n. something (rarely someone) that inspires excitement and terror; esp. a horror or suspense story, film, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > pleasurable excitement > [noun] > pleasure mixed with horror > causing > that which
spine-thriller1912
spine-chiller1940
spine-tingler1942
spine-freezer1960
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > other types of play
king play1469
king game1504
historya1509
chronicle history1600
monology1608
horseplaya1627
piscatory1631
stock play1708
petite pièce1712
mimic1724
ballad opera1730
ballad farce1735
benefit-play1740
potboiler1783
monodrama1793
extravaganza1797
theo-drama1801
monodrame1803
proverb1803
stock piece1804
bespeak1807
ticket-night1812
dramaticle1813
monopolylogue1819
pièce d'occasion1830
interlude1831
mimea1834
costume piece1834
mummers' play1849
history play1850
gag-piece1860
music drama1874
well-made1881
playlet1884
two-decker1884
slum1885
kinderspiel1886
thrill1886
knockabout1887
two-hander1888
front-piece1889
thriller1889
shadow-play1890
mime play1894
problem play1894
one-acter1895
sex play1899
chronicle drama1902
thesis-play1902
star vehicle1904
folk-play1905
radio play1908
tab1915
spy play1919
one-act1920
pièce à thèse1923
dance-drama1924
a mess of plottage1926
turkey1927
weepie1928
musical1930
cliffhanger1931
mime drama1931
triangle drama1931
weeper1934
spine-chiller1940
starrer1941
scorcher1942
teleplay1947
straw-hatter1949
pièce noire1951
pièce rose1951
tab show1951
conversation piece1952
psychodrama1956
whydunit1968
mystery play1975
State of the Nation1980
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > novel > [noun] > sensational novel or thriller
sensation novel1856
penny dreadful1861
dime novel1864
curdler1872
dreadful1874
blood and thunder1876
penny awful1880
shilling dreadful1885
thrill1886
thriller1889
blood1892
terror novel1896
penny horrible1899
spine-thriller1912
roman noir1926
spine-chiller1940
scorcher1942
spine-tingler1942
spine-freezer1960
1940 Amer. Speech 15 205/1 Spine-chiller, a mystery film or play.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §202/4 Sensational story or book,..spine chiller or tingler.
1957 London Mag. Aug. 59 Elective Affinities is a far more important novel than Walpole's Castle of Otranto, and yet there has only been one edition of it in the past hundred years, compared to the dozen or so of Walpole's unreadable spine-chiller.
1969 E. Lemarchand Alibi for Corpse xv. 189 Even now the idea of her..gives me the willies. And Twentyman was a spine-chiller.
1976 Listener 21 Oct. 509/2 The arrival of a mysterious stranger, murder, a dumb-struck child, suicide. This was a spine-chiller, and no mistake.
spine-chilling adj. and n. inspiring excitement and terror, horrifying.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > pleasurable excitement > [adjective] > causing pleasure mixed with horror
blood-tingling1871
spine-freezing1937
spine-chilling1946
spine-tingling1955
the mind > emotion > excitement > pleasurable excitement > [noun] > pleasure mixed with horror > causing
spine-chilling1946
1946 ‘M. Innes’ From London Far i. ii. 20 A sweet and—as he hoped—wholly spine-chilling smile.
1958 New Statesman 25 Jan. 103/1 With unerring instinct H. G. Clouzot, the spine-chilling specialist of The Wages of Fear and The Fiends, has sought a new tension in Picasso.
1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 July 389/3 As an exercise in spine-chilling and blood-curdling, Caves of Night is masterly.
1960 H. S. Agar Saving Remnant v. 127 ‘What, still so many Jews?’—that spine-chilling comment.
1983 Listener 10 Feb. 16/3 She realised that I was retailing an antiquarian donnish history instead of the mildly spine-chilling ghost story she expected.
spine-eel n. a spiny eel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > subdivision Teleostei > [noun] > order Notocanthiformes > member of family Halosauridae
spine-eel1883
halosaur1904
halosaurus1904
1883 F. Day Indian Fish 30 Few are of much economic importance, if we except the common goby, spine-eels (Mastacembelidæ).
spine-fish n. a fish having sharp spines.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > [noun] > with spines
scorpion?1527
sea scorpion1601
spine-fish1827
1827 T. Hood Hero & Leander xxvi, in Plea Midsummer Fairies & Other Poems 77 Let no fierce sharks destroy him with their teeth, Nor spine-fish wound him with their venom'd thorns.
spine-freezer n. = spine-chiller n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > pleasurable excitement > [noun] > pleasure mixed with horror > causing > that which
spine-thriller1912
spine-chiller1940
spine-tingler1942
spine-freezer1960
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > novel > [noun] > sensational novel or thriller
sensation novel1856
penny dreadful1861
dime novel1864
curdler1872
dreadful1874
blood and thunder1876
penny awful1880
shilling dreadful1885
thrill1886
thriller1889
blood1892
terror novel1896
penny horrible1899
spine-thriller1912
roman noir1926
spine-chiller1940
scorcher1942
spine-tingler1942
spine-freezer1960
1960 P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves in Offing iii. 41 Mrs. Cream..worked in her room every afternoon on her new spine-freezer.
1961 P. G. Wodehouse Ice in Bedroom i. 9 I dipped into one of her products once, misled by the title into supposing it to be a spine-freezer.
spine-freezing adj. = spine-chilling adj. and n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > pleasurable excitement > [adjective] > causing pleasure mixed with horror
blood-tingling1871
spine-freezing1937
spine-chilling1946
spine-tingling1955
1937 Discovery Dec. 373/1 The spine-freezing howl of the kiret.
1961 Guardian 3 Apr. 5/4 The spine-freezing wail of sirens.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > strip of wood > lath > types of
heart lath1324
sap lath1350
spine-lath1630
1630–1 in H. J. F. Swayne Churchwardens' Accts. Sarum (1896) 192 Three hundred of spind lathes, 2s. 6d.
1635–6 in H. J. F. Swayne Churchwardens' Accts. Sarum (1896) 204 ij hundred of spine lathes to mend ouer the North dore of the Ch.
spine-machine n. a device for supporting or strengthening the human spine.
ΚΠ
1803 Hey Pract. Obs. Surg. Pref. p. vii Mr. E. makes excellent Spine-machines, upon the true principle of supporting the weak part from the ground.
spine-oak n. the heart-wood of an oak (cf. 7).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > oak and allies > [noun] > bark, wood, twig, leaf, or stump
oak leafeOE
oakc1385
oak bark1579
spine-oak1825
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > oak > heartwood of
heart of oakc1384
spine-oak1825
1825 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 26 Nov. 538 The best of spine oak is generally chosen for these pins.
1863 J. R. Wise New Forest Gloss. Spine-oak, the heart of oak.
spine road n. a major road linking other important routes or points.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > main or major road
great road1614
high road1620
main road1741
highway1837
traffic artery1845
trunk road1848
main-way1862
arterial road1886
primary roada1903
route1912
arterial1920
major road1930
spine road1961
1961 New Left Rev. July 56/1 A spine road runs east–west between these blocks.
1971 Guardian 12 Oct. 28/4 Oxford city's consultants drew up an alternative for a spine road feeding into large car parks.
spine-thriller n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > pleasurable excitement > [noun] > pleasure mixed with horror > causing > that which
spine-thriller1912
spine-chiller1940
spine-tingler1942
spine-freezer1960
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > novel > [noun] > sensational novel or thriller
sensation novel1856
penny dreadful1861
dime novel1864
curdler1872
dreadful1874
blood and thunder1876
penny awful1880
shilling dreadful1885
thrill1886
thriller1889
blood1892
terror novel1896
penny horrible1899
spine-thriller1912
roman noir1926
spine-chiller1940
scorcher1942
spine-tingler1942
spine-freezer1960
1912 Maclean's Nov. 135 (heading) Producing spine thrillers. How successful melodramas are furnished—some confessions about art of capitalizing spines.
1962 Listener 21 June 1085/3 It ranges over the whole field of spine-thrillers, from puppets to poisons.
spine-tingler adj. something pleasurably frightening; esp. an exciting story, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > pleasurable excitement > [noun] > pleasure mixed with horror > causing > that which
spine-thriller1912
spine-chiller1940
spine-tingler1942
spine-freezer1960
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > novel > [noun] > sensational novel or thriller
sensation novel1856
penny dreadful1861
dime novel1864
curdler1872
dreadful1874
blood and thunder1876
penny awful1880
shilling dreadful1885
thrill1886
thriller1889
blood1892
terror novel1896
penny horrible1899
spine-thriller1912
roman noir1926
spine-chiller1940
scorcher1942
spine-tingler1942
spine-freezer1960
1942Spine tingler [see spine-chiller n.].
1978 TV Times 28 Jan. 19/1 This week's The South Bank Show homes in on..the best Shakespearian actor alive today. Also on view: little spine-tinglers from his Henry V, Henry VI and Coriolanus.
spine-tingling adj. pleasurably frightening or disturbing; spine-chilling.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > pleasurable excitement > [adjective] > causing pleasure mixed with horror
blood-tingling1871
spine-freezing1937
spine-chilling1946
spine-tingling1955
1955 E. Caldwell Love & Money 206 A spine-tingling historical romance.
1968 Blues Unlimited Dec. 4 John Lee's spine-tingling guitar.
1978 J. B. Hilton Some run Crooked xi. 118 He spoke the words quietly..and there was something spine-tingling about them.
spine wall n. Building (see quot. 1963).
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > wall of building > [noun] > other specific types of wall
firewall?1666
truss-partition1823
bearing wall1833
sleeper wall1845
curtain wall1859
fender wall1894
cavity wall1910
apron wall1934
storage wall1945
spine wall1949
curtain walling1958
sleeper walling1971
Trombe1978
1949 Archit. Rev. 105 236 Construction is box~frame with continuous reinforced concrete slabs, and with load-bearing spine walls of reinforced concrete.
1963 Gloss. Gen. Building Terms (B.S.I.) 22 Spine wall, an internal loadbearing wall running in the direction of the main axis of a building or structure.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
spinen.2
/spʌɪn/, U.S. /spaɪn/ south-western dialect.
1. Greensward, sward; turf. Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > fertile land or place > land with vegetation > [noun] > grassland
wong971
greenc1225
clowrec1350
bentc1360
swarth?a1400
flaughtc1400
grassa1500
sward?1507
greenswarda1522
sward-earth1541
swarf1599
over-swarth1649
lawn1674
sod1729
swath1776
spine1786
swad1877
turfage1899
padang1909
1786 Ann. Agric. 7 60 I would recommend some heaps to be made of the sward or spind, in the nature of denshiring or burnbaiting.
1791 W. Marshall Minutes in Rural Econ. W. Eng. (1796) II. 264 Paring off and subverting, apparently with a Breast Plow, the ‘spine’ or rough sod of an orchard.
1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon v. 116 Cutting..the spine or green sward to a feather-edge.
1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 29 These planks subsequently covered with the spine of earth well kept.
1889 Reports Provinces, Devon. (E.D.D.) You can't grow a good spine under those trees.
2. The rind of pork or other meat; the layer of fat or meat adhering to the skin. Also attributive in spine-pork, (see quot. 1888).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > pork > [noun] > rind
swardc1430
crisp1675
crackling1708
spine1847
swad1877
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II Spine, the hide of an animal; the fat on the surface of a joint of meat.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Spine-pork, the meat of small pigs, on which the bacon is left with the skin; hence the ‘crackling’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
spinev.
/spʌɪn/, U.S. /spaɪn/ rare.† 1. intransitive. To grow or develop like a spine. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1621 G. Sandys tr. Ovid First Five Bks. Metamorphosis v. 134 A taile withall Spines from his changed shape.
2. transitive. To shoot or hit in the spine.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (transitive)] > injure specific part
to shave (a person's) crown14..
slot?a1400
paunch1530
tuckc1640
shin1819
spine1888
whiplash1971
1888 J. Inglis Tent Life Tigerland 340 It was ‘spined’ (the shot had been a lucky one).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.21786
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