spiller 
Spiller- (spil'er), . [Also spillnr, K 
spillaii, spillet; origin obscure.] 1. A trawl- 
line; abultow. [West of Ireland.] 2. In the 
mackerel-fishery, a seine inserted into a larger 
seine to take out the fish, us over :i rocky bot- 
tom where the larger seine cannot be hauled 
ashore. [Nova Scotia.] 
spillet (spil'et), H. Same as spilln^. 
spillet-flshing (spil'et-flsh'ing), . Same as 
spilliard-Jlshing. 
spill-goodt (spil'gud), n. [< spiin, r., + obj. 
I/HIH!.] A spendthrift. Minshev. 
spilliard (spU'yftrd), n. Same as spilli-r-. 
[West of Ireland".] 
spilliard-fishing (spil'ygrd-flsh'ing), n. Fish- 
1115; with a trawl-Hue. 
spillikin (spil'i-kin), . [Also spillikeii, spilikin 
(and in pi. Kpcllicans, speHeans)', < MD. sjx'llr- 
/.< a, a little pin, < spcUe, a pin, splinter, + dim. 
-km: see spill'-, xpcll*. and -kin.'] 1. A long 
splinter of wood, bone, ivory, or the like, such as 
is used in playing some games, as jackstraws. 
The kitchen fire-irons were in exactly the same position 
against the back door as when Martha and T had skillfully 
piled them up like ipUKtiiw, ready to fall with an awful 
clatter if only a cat had touched the outside panels. 
Mrs. Gaskell, Cranford, x. 
2. pi. A game played with such pegs, pins, or 
splinters, as push-pin or jackstraws. 3. A 
small peg used in keeping count in some games, 
as cribbage. 
spilling-line (spil'ing-lin), n. Xaut., a rope 
occasionally fitted to a square sail in stormy 
weather, so" as to spill the sail, in order that it 
may be reefed or furled more easily. 
Reef-tackles were rove to the courses, and tpttling-line* 
to the topsails. R. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 34T. 
spill-stream (spil'strem), . In India, a stream 
Formed by the overflow of water from a river ; 
a bayou. See spill-channel. 
The Bhaglrathi, although for centuries a mere spill- 
itream from the parent Ganges, is still called the Gauges 
by the villagers along its course. 
Nineteenth Century, XXIII. 43. 
spill-timet (spil'tim), n. [ME. spille-tyme; < 
spill 1 , v.,+ obj. time.] A waster of time ; a time- 
killer; an idler. 
A spendour that spende mot other a spille-ti/me, 
Other beggest thy bylyue a-boute at menne hacches. 
Piers Plowman (C\ vi. 28. 
spill-trough (spil'trof), . In brass-founding, 
a trough against which the inclined flask rests 
while the metal is poured from the crucible, 
and which catches metal that may be spilled. 
spillway (spil'wa), n. A passage for surplus 
water from a dam. 
In wet weather the water in the two reservoirs flows 
away through the spillways or waste weirs beside the 
dams, and runs down the river into Croton Lake. 
The Century, XXXIX. 207. 
Spilochalcis (spi-lo-kal'sis), n. [NL. (Thom- 
son, 1875), < Gr. am'Aof, a spot, speck, + NL. 
Chalcis: see ChoMt 1 .] A genus of parasitic 
hymenopterous insects, of the family Chalcidi- 
dse, containing some of the largest species. The 
hind thighs are greatly enlarged, the abdomen has a long 
petiole, the thorax is maculate, and the middle tibise have 
spurs. The genus is very widely distributed, and the spe- 
cies destroy many kinds of insects. Some of the smaller 
5833 
[NL. (G. R. Gray, 
+ bpvtf, a bird.] A 
Little Striped Skunk (..Sfitogalf putorius 
Spilornis (spi-lor'nis), . 
1840), < Gr. oTn'/.of, a spot, 
genus of large spotted and crested hawks, of the 
family Falconidse, having the tarsi bare below, 
the nostrils oval and perpendicular, and the 
crest-feathers rounded. There are several species 
of India, and thence through the Indo-Malayan region to 
Celebes and the Sulu and Philippine Islands. The best- 
Spilochalcis martet, female. (Cross shows natural size.) 
ones are secondary parasites. 5. marise is a common para- 
site of the large native American silkworms, such as the 
polyphemus and cecropia. 
Spilogale (spi-log'a-le), n. [NL., < Gr. oiri'Aof, 
a spot, + yal.fi, contr. of yaUri, a weasel.] A 
genus of American skunks, differing from Me- 
phitis in certain cranial characters. The skull is 
depressed, with highly arched zygomata, well-developed 
postorbital and slight mastoid processes, and peculiarly 
nullous periotic region. S. putorius, formerly Mephitis 
tricolor, is the little striped or spotted skunk of the United 
States. It is black or blackish, with numerous white 
stripes and spots in endless diversity of detail. The length 
is scarcely 12 Inches without the tail, which is shorter 
than the rest of the animal. The genus was named by 
J. E. Gray in 1865. See cut in next column. 
Crested Serpent-eagle, or Cheela (Sfttornis cheela). 
known is the cheela, S. cheela, of India. The bacha, S. 
bacha, inhabits Java, Sumatra, and Malacca ; S pallidus 
is found in Borneo, S. ruflpectus in Celebes, S. sulxnsis in 
the Sulu Islands, and S. holospttus in the Philippines. 
spilosite (spil'p-sit), n. [Irreg. < Gr. o-m'/iof, 
a spot, + -ite 2 .] A name given by Zineken 
to a rock occurring in the Harz, near the bor- 
ders of the granitic mass of the Ramberg, ap- 
parently the result of contact metamorphism 
of the slate in the vicinity of granite or dia- 
base. The most prominent visible feature of this change 
in the slate is the occurrence of spots ; hence the rock 
has been called by the Germans Fleclcenschiefer, while 
rocks of a similar origin, but striped instead of spotted, 
are known aa Bandschiefer. Similar phenomena of con- 
tact metamorphism have been observed in other regions 
and described by various authors, and such altered states 
are called by English geologists spotted schists, chiastolite 
schists, andalusite schists, etc. 
Spilotes (spl-16'tez), n. [NL. (Wagler, 1830), 
as if < Gr. "o-m/kirtfr, < air&ovv, stain, < cni?j>f, a 
spot.] A genus of colubrine serpents, having 
smooth equal teeth, one median dorsal row of 
scales, internasals not confluent with nasals, 
two prefrontals, two nasals, one preocular, the 
rostral not produced, and the anal scute entire. 
S. covperi is a large harmless snake of the South Atlantic 
and Gulf States, sometimes 6 or 8 feet long, of a black color 
shading into yellow below, and known as the indigo- or 
gopher-snake. This genus was called Georgia by Baird 
and Girard in 1853. 
spilt (spilt). A preterit and past participle of 
spill 1 . 
spiltert (spil'ter), TO. Same as speller 3 . 
spilth (spilth), n. [< spiU 1 + -thS. Cf. tilth.} 
That which is spilled; that which is poured 
out lavishly. 
Our vaults have wept 
With drunken spilth of wine. 
Shak., T. of A., ii. 2. 169. 
Burned like a spilth of light 
Out of the crashing of a myriad stars. 
Browning, Bordello. 
spilus (spi'lus), . [NL., < Gr. omTof, a spot, 
blemish.] 1. PI. spilt (-li). In anat. &nApa- 
thol., a spot or discoloration ; a neevus or birth- 
mark. 2. [cap.] In entom., a genus of elaterid 
beetles, confined to South America. Candeze, 
1859. 
spin (spin), v.; pret. spun (formerly also span), 
pp. spun, ppr. spinning. [< ME. spiiuien, spynnen 
(pret. span, pi. sponne, pp. sponnen), < AS. spin- 
aim (pret. spann, pp. spiiniien) = D. spinnen = 
MLG. LG. gpinnen = OHG. spinnan, MHG. G. 
spinnen = Icel. Sw. spinna = Dan. spinde = 
Goth, spinnan, spin ; prob. related to span (AS. 
spannan, etc.), < Teut. -^ span, draw out: see 
span 1 . Hence ult. spinner, spindle, spinster, spi- 
der.] I. trans. 1. To draw out and twist into 
spin 
tlm-iuls. either by the hand nr by min-liincry : 
as. to spin wool, cotton, or llax. 
All the yarn she [Penelope] ;// in i lym I'rtaance ili.i 
but till Ithaca full of ninths. Sha/r., Cor., i. ::. !>:;. 
For plain truths lose much of their weight when they 
are rarify'd into snlitilties, anil their slreuclh is inipain .1 
when they are Hfttin intntoo line a thread. 
StOllngflut, Sermons, I. iv. 
The number of strands of gut spun into a cord varies 
itli the thickness of catgut required. 
H'/,rk*ln>p Receipt!, 2d ser., p. 32U. 
2. To make, fabricate, or form by drawing out 
and twisting the materials of: as, to spin a 
thread or a web; to spin glass. 
(I fatal sustren! which, er any cloth 
.Me shapeu was, my desteyne me tponne. 
rr, Troilus, iii. 734. 
She, them saluting, there by them sate still, 
Beholding how the thrids of life they */.. 
Spenser, If. Q., IV. ii. 49. 
What Spinster Witch could spin such Thread 
He nothing knew. Conyrere, An Impossible Thing. 
There is a Wheel that's turn'd by Humane power, which 
Spins Ten Thousand Yards of Glass in less than half an 
hour. Advertisement quoted in Axtitvn'* Social Life 
[in Reign of Queen Anne, I. 290. 
3. To form by the extrusion in long slender 
filaments or threads of viscous matter which 
hardens in air: said of the spider, the silkworm, 
and other insects: as, to spin silk or gossamer; 
to spin a web or cocoon. 4. Figuratively, to 
fabricate or produce in a manner analogous to 
the drawing out and twisting of wool or flax 
into threads, or to the processes of the spider 
or the silkworm: sometimes with out. 
When they [letters] are spun out of nothing, they are 
nothing, or but apparitions and ghosts, with such hollow 
sounds as he that hears them knows not what they said. 
Donne, Letters, xlvii. 
Those accidents of time and place which obliged Greece 
to spin most of her speculations, like a spider, out of her 
own bowels. De Quincey, Style, iv. 
5. To whirl rapidly ; cause to turn rapidly on 
its own axis by twirling: as, to spin a top; to 
spin a coin on a table. 
If the ball were spun like a top by the two fingers and 
thumb, it would turn in the way indicated by the arrow in 
the diagram. St. Nicholas, XVII. 826. 
6. To fish with a swivel or spoon-bait : as, to 
spin the upper pool. 7. In sheet-metal icorl; 
to form in a lathe, as a disk of sheet-metal, 
into a globe, cup, vase, or like form. The disk 
is fitted to the live spindle, and is pressed and bent by 
tools of various forms. The process is peculiarly suitable 
to plated ware, as the thin coating of silver is not broken 
or disturbed by it. Called in French repoussi sur tcur. 
8. To reject at an examination; "send spin- 
ning." [Slang.] 
" When must you go, Jerry ? " "Are you to join direct- 
ly, or will they give you leave 5" "Don't yon funk being 
spun?" "Is it a good regiment? How jolly to dine at 
mess every day !" Whyte Melville, White Rose, I. x. 
Spun glass, Silk. See the nouns. Spun gold, gold 
thread prepared for weaving in any manner; especially, 
that prepared by winding a very thin and narrow flat rib- 
bon of gold around a thread of some other material. Spun 
silver, silver thread for weaving. Compare spun gold, 
Spun yarn (naut.\ a line or cord formed of rope-yarns 
twisted! together, used for serving ropes, bending sails, 
etc. To spin a yarn, to tell a long story : originally a sea- 
men's phrase. [Colloq.] To spin hay (milit.\ to twist 
hay into ropes for convenient carriage. To spin Out, to 
draw out tediously ; prolong by discussion, delays, wordi- 
ness, or the like ; protract : as, to spin out the proceedings 
beyond all patience. 
By one delay after another, they spin out their whole 
lives. Sir It. L'Estrange. 
Do you mean that the story is tediously spun out? 
Sheridan, The Critic, i. 1. 
He endeavoured, however, to gain further time by spin- 
ning out the negotiation. Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 13. 
To spin street- yarn, to gad abroad ; spend much time 
in the streets. [Slang. New Eng.] 
II. intrans. 1. To form threads by drawing 
out and twisting the fiber of wool, cotton, flax, 
and the like, especially with the distaff and 
spindle, with the spinning-wheel, or with spin- 
ning-machinery. 
Deceite, wepyng, spynnyng, God hath yeve 
To wommen kyndely. 
Chaucer, Pro), to Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 401. 
When Adam dalve, and Eve span, 
Who was then a gentleman? 
Bp. Pilkingtcn, Works (Parker Soc.), p. 126. 
2. To form threads out of a viscous fluid, as a 
spider or silkworm. 3. To revolve rapidly; 
whirl, as a top or a spindle. 
Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves 
of change. Tennyson, Locksley Hall. 
4. To issue in a thread or small stream ; spirt. 
Make incision in their hides, 
That their hot blood may spin in English eyes. 
Shak., Hen. V., iv. 2. 10. 
