spradde 
spraddet, spradt. Obsolete forms of the pret- 
erit and past partieiplo of spread. 
sprag 1 (sprag), 11. [< Dan. dial. spray = Sw. dial. 
spi-iii/u, xjirat/gc, a spray, sprig: see tprayl.] 1. 
A billet of wood. [Prov. Eng.] Specifically 
2. Incoal-miiiiiif/ : (n) A short billet of wood 
used instead of a brake to lock the wheels of a 
car. (b) A short wooden prop used to support 
the coal during the operation of holing or un- 
dercutting; a punch-prop. [Eng.] 
sprag 1 (sprag), v. t. ; pret. and pp. spraggcd, ppr. 
spragaing. [< pr0i, .] To prop by a sprag ; 
also, to stop, as a carnage on a steep grade, 
by putting a sprag in the spokes of the wheel. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
sprag 2 (sprag), . [Prob. a particular use of 
5860 
young of the herring, pilchard, or shad ; but it can ho 
easily distinguished from the young of any of these fishes 
by the sharply notched edge of the abdomen. Young 
sprats, an inch or two long, are the fishes of which white- 
Sprat (flufta ifratliitl. 
spray* in sense of ' sprout,' i. e. ' young one ' ; 
cf. spra ft, sproft, a small fish, similarly derived 
from sproft, a sprout.] 1. A young salmon of 
the first year; a smolt. 2. A half-grown cod. 
[Prov. Eng. in both senses.] 
sprag 3 (sprag), a. A dialectal form of sprack. 
sprag-road (sprag'rod), . In coal-mining, a 
mine-road having such a steep grade that sprags 
are needed to control the descent of the car. 
Pcnn, Sure. Gloss. 
Spraich (sprach), v.i. [Also spracli, sprcich; prob. 
< Sw. spraka = Dan. sprage = 
make a noise, crackle, burst : see spark 1 . J To 
cry; shriek. Jamieson. [Scotch.] 
spraich (sprach), . [Also spracli, spreich; < 
spraich, ?.] 1. A cry; a shriek. 
Anone thay herd sere vocis lamentabill, 
Grete walyng, quhimpering, and sprachis miserabill. 
Gavin Douglas, tr. of Virgil, p. 178. 
2. A pack; a multitude: as, a spraich of bairns. 
Jamieson. [Scotch in both uses.] 
spraickle (spra'kl), n. i. Same as 
[Scotch.] 
spraid (sprad), . [Also sprayed; a reduced 
torm of spreathcd.] Chapped with cold. 
liwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
It was much worse than Jamaica ginger grated into a 
poor sprayed finger. R. V. lilackmore, Lorna Uoone, xxxi. 
sprain (spran), v. t. [< OF. espreindre, press, 
wring, < L. exprimcrc, press out, < ex, out, + 
premere, press : see press 1 , and cf . express.] If. 
To press ; push. 
Hee sprainde in a sprite [sprit, pole] & spradde it aboute. 
Alisaunder of Macedoine (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1097. 
bait mainly or largely consists at some seasons. Thesprat 
is known in Scotland by the name of yarvie or garvie-her- 
ring. 
'Sfoot, ye all talk 
Like a company of Kprat-ieA mechanics. 
lleau. and Fl. ('!), Faithful Friends, i. 2. 
2. A name of other fishes, (a) A young herring. 
(b) The sand-eel or -lance. See cut under Ammodytidte. 
[Prov. Eng.] (c) A kind of anchovy, Stolephorus compressus, 
about six inches long, of a very pale or translucent oliva- 
ceous color, with a silvery lateral band, found on the coasts 
of California and Mexico. It closely resembles S. delicatix- 
simut of the same coasts, but is larger and has a longer 
anal fin. (d) Same as aljiona. Fresh- water sprat, the 
bleak. I. Walton. [Local, Eng.] London sprat, the 
true sprat : so distinguished from the sand-eel or -lance. 
Sprat' 2 (sprat), . i. ; pret. and pp. spratted, ppr. 
spratting. [< sprat'', n.] To fish for sprats. 
They will be afloat here and there in the wild weather, 
tpraUtng. Daily Telegraph, Aug. 27, 1888. (Encye. Diet.) 
sprat 3 (sprat), n. [Perhaps a particular use of 
spraft.] A small coin. [Slang.] 
Several Lascars were charged with passing sprats, the 
slang term applied to spurious fourpenny pieces, six- 
pences, and shillings. Morning Chronicle, Dec. 2, 1857. 
sprat-barley (sprat'barli), . See barley!-, 
sprackle. sprat-borer (sprat'bor'er), n. A loon, as the 
red-throated diver, Colymbus (or Vrinator) sep- 
tentrionalis: from its fondness for sprats. 
jj a l. sprat-day (sprat'da), n. The ninth day of No- 
vember: so called in London as being the first 
day of the sprat-selling season. Mayheic, Lon- 
don Labour and London Poor, I. 69. 
Same as sprat-borer. 
(sprat'mu), n. A sea-gull which 
catches sprats ; the kittiwake. 
spratter (sprat'er), n. [< spraft, v., + -er 1 .] 
1. One who fishes for sprats. 2. The guille- 
mot. [Prov. Eng.] 
2. To overstrain, as the muscles or ligaments 
of a joint so as to injure them, but without 
luxation or dislocation. 
sprattle (sprat'l), r. i.; pret. and pp. gprattled, 
ppr. sprattling. [Also sprottle; < Sw. sprattla, 
The sudden turn may streteh the swelling vein, 
Thy cracking joint unhinge, or ankle sprain. 
sprawl, = Dan. spr&lte, sprselde, sprawl, floun- 
der, toss the legs; cf. D. spartelen, flutter, leap, 
wrestle, sparkle. Cf. sprackle, sprawl^.] To 
scramble. Burns, To a Louse. [Scotch.] - - ~ r .. e . . 
vla> , sprattle (sprat'l), H. [< sprattle, v.] A scram- 8 l >ra y f diamonds ; an embroidered spray. 
sprain (spran), H. [< sprain, v.] 1. A violent tie; a struggle. Scott, Bedgauntlet ch xii Spray 2 (spra), n. [Not found in ME. or AS. ; the 
straiiiinir or wronp.hinir of the sr.fr. narta anr. ra_'_L_a. -i ' alleged 'spregan, in AS. "gcond-spregan, pour 
Same as sprackle. 
sprayer 
5. To widen or open irregularly, as a body of 
cavalry. 
II. trans. To spread out ungracefully. 
The leafless butternut, whereon the whippoorwill used 
to sing, and the yellow warbler make its nest, sprawls its 
naked arms, and moans pitifully in the blast. 
5. Judtl, Margaret, 1. 17. 
sprawl 1 (spral), H. [< uprau-n, r.] 1. The act of 
sprawling. 2. A sprawling posture ; an awk- 
ward recumbent attitude: as, to be stretched 
out .in a careless sprairl. 3. Motion; activity. 
[Prov. Eng. and U. S.] 
sprawl- (spral), n. [Prob. dim. of s/>rai/ordial. 
K.tprayl; SGQ spray 1 , xpraifi.] A small twig or 
branch of a tree ; a spray! 
lla/liwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
sprawler (spra'ler), ii. [< 
tprawfl + -ei-l.] One who 
or that which sprawls. Spe- 
cifically, in entinn.: (a) One of 
certain moths or their larvae. (1) 
The European noctuid moth 
Asteroscopus sphinx: so called 
from the sprawling of the larva. 
The rannoch sprawler is A. n- 
beadoms. (2) A noctuid moth, 
Demas coryli. (b) The dobson or 
hellgrammite. [Local, U. S.f 
1 (spra), n. [< ME. 
< Sw. dial. 
spragg, spragge = Dan. 
Kprag, a sprig, a spray: see 
sprag 1 , a doublet of spray 1 , 
and cf. sprig. Cf. Lith. 
sproga, a spray of a tree, 
also a rift, sprogti, split, 
sprout, bud ; Gr. aairdpa-jof, 
asparagus, perhaps orig. 
'sprout.'] 1. A branch of 
a tree with its branchlets, 
especially when slender 
and graceful ; also, twigs, or such branches 
collectively; a stem of flowers or leaves; a 
sprig. 
He knelyde down appon his knee 
Vndir nethe that grenwode ftpraye. 
Thomas of Ersseldoune (Child's Ballads, I. 100). 
nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray 
Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still. 
Milton, Sonnets, i. 
2f. An orchard; a grove. 
Abute the orchard is a wal ; 
The ethelikeste ston is cristal ; 
Ho so wonede a moneth in that spray 
Vil.le him neure longen away. 
King Horn (E. E. T. S.X p. 50. 
3. A binding-stick for thatching. Halliwell. 
[Prpv. Eng.] 4. Any ornament, pattern, or 
design in the form of a branch or sprig: as, a 
Sprawler (*) (Larva of 
Corydaltts ccrMtifus), two 
thirds natural size. 
straining or wrenching of the soft parts sur- [Scotch ] 
rounding a joint, without dislocation. Theordi- sprauchle (spra'chl), v. i. 
S in thS m r iuied e mrt edegree ' sprault. r. An obsolete form of mwfc 
sed ^'SSSK^WI sprawl 
2. The injury caused by spraining; a sprained 
' joint. 
spraint (sprant), n. [< ME. "spraynte, prob. < 
OF. espreinte, a pressing out, straining, F. 
epreinle, < espreindre, press out: see xprai'n.] 
The dung of the otter. Jfingsley, Two Years 
Ago, xviii. 
sprainting(spran'ting), n. [< ME. sprayntyng ; 
< spraint + -ing*.] Same as spraint. 
spraith (sprath), n. Same as spreagh. 
sprale (spral), v. A dialectal variant of gprairl*. 
sprallt, r. An obsolete spelling of sy>ricA. 
sprang (sprang). A preterit of spring. 
sprangle (sprang'gl), v. i. ; pret. and pp. spran- 
gled, ppr. sprangKng. [Appar. a nasalized var. 
ot sprackle.] To sprawl; straggle. [Prov. Eng. 
and U. S.] 
Over its fence spranyles a squash vine in ungainly joy 
Cornhill Mag., May, 1882. (Encye. Diet.) 
When on the back-stretch his legs seemed to sprangle 
out on all sides at once. 
Philadelphia Times, Aug. 15, 1883. 
sprangle (sprang'gl), . [< sprangle, v.] The 
act or attitude of sprangling. J. Spaldinf/, Di- 
vine Theory (1808). [Prov. Eng. and U. S.] 
sprat 1 (sprat), . [Sc. also spreat, sprett, sprit, 
sprot, the joint-leafed rush ; another form and 
use of sproft, a stump, chip, broken branch : see 
*ph>fl, and cf. sprat?, n.] 1. A name of various 
species of rushes, as Juncus articitlatus, etc. 
[Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 2. pi. Small wood. 
Kennett; Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
~ (sprat), 
prawl 1 (spral), v. [Early mod. E. also sprall; 
< ME. sprawlen, spratden, spraieelen, spraullen, 
spralleti, < AS. spredwlian (a rare and doubtful 
word, cited by Zupitza ("Studium der neueren 
Sprachen," July, 1886) from a gloss); perhaps 
akin to Icel. spraukla, sprdkla, sprawl; cf. Sw. 
dial, spralla, sprala = Dan. spralle, sprselde, 
sprawl, flounder: see sprackle and sprattle.] 
f. in trans. 1. To toss the limbs, about; work 
the arms and legs convulsively; in general, to 
struggle convulsively. 
He drow it [a fish] in to the drie place, and it bigan to 
sprattle bifor hise feet. Wycly, Tobit vi. 4. 
He spraulleth lyke a yonge padocke. I spratile with my 
legges, struggell, Je me debate. Palsgrave, p. 729. 
Spraicl'st thou? take that, to end thy agony. [Stabs him. 
Shale., 3 Hen. VI., v. 5. 39. 
Grim in convulsive agonies he sprawls. 
Pope, Odyssey, xxii. 23. 
2. To work one's way awkwardly along with the 
aid of all the limbs ; crawl or scramble. 
outj is appar. an error for sprengan, cause to 
spring: see spreng. spring. The Icel. sprsena, 
jet, spurt out, Norw. sprspn, a jet of water, are 
not related. Cf.V.spreijen (Sewe\),torspreiden, 
= LG. spreen, spreten, for spreden, = E. spread: 
see spread.] Water flying in small drops or par- 
ticles, as by the force of wind, or the dashing 
of waves, or from a waterfall ; water or other 
liquid broken up into small particles and driven 
(as by an atomizer) along by a current of air 
or other gas. 
Winds raise some of the salt with the spray. Arbuthnot. 
Carbolic spray, carbolic acid and water in various pro- 
portions, as used with an atomizer in the treatment of the 
mucous membrane of the throat, in surgical operations 
and the like. 
spray' 2 (spra), . [Cf. spray*, n.] I. trans. 1. 
To throw in the form of spray ; let fall as spray ; 
scatter in minute drops or particles. 
The niched snow-bed sprays down 
Its powdery fall. M. Arnold, Switzerland, ii. 
2. To sprinkle with fine drops; dampen by 
means of spray, as of perfume, or of some ad- 
hesive liquid used to preserve drawings and the 
like. 
II. intrans. To discharge or scatter a liquid 
in the form of spray: as, the instrument will 
either spout or spray. 
I haue seene it, saith Cambrensis, experimented, that a 
toad, being incompassed with a thong, . .. reculed backe, 
as though it had beene rapt in the head ; wherevpon he 
began to sprall to the other side. 
Stanihurst, Descrip. of Ireland, ii. (Holinshed's Chron.). 
3. To be spread out in an ungraceful posture ; spray-board (spra'bord), n. A strip on the 
be stretched out carelessly and awkwardly. gunwale of a boat to keep out spray. 
spray-drain (spra'dran), n. In agri., a drain 
formed by burying in the earth brush, or the 
spray of trees, which serves to keep open a 
channel. Drains of this sort are much used in 
fish of European waters, Clupea (Harengula) 
spra tins. At one time the sprat was thought to be the 
On painted ceilings you devoutly stare, 
Where sprawl the saints of Verrio or Laguerre, 
Or gilded clouds in fair expansion lie. 
Pope, Moral Essays, iv. 146. 
4. To have an irregular, spreading form or grass-lands, 
outline; straggle: said of handwriting, vines, Sprayed, . 
etc. sprayer (spra'er), . One who or that which 
The arches which spring from the huge pillars, though discharges spray; specifically, one of a large 
wide, are not spraieling. E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 21. class of machines for applying liquid insecti- 
