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Spell   /spɛl/   Listen
Spell

noun
1.
A psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation.  Synonyms: enchantment, trance.
2.
A time for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else).  Synonyms: go, tour, turn.  "A spell of work"
3.
A period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition.  Synonyms: patch, piece, while.  "I need to rest for a piece" , "A spell of good weather" , "A patch of bad weather"
4.
A verbal formula believed to have magical force.  Synonyms: charm, magic spell, magical spell.  "Inscribed around its base is a charm in Balinese"
verb
(when related to words: past & past part. spelt or spelled; pres. part. spelling)  (when related to turns: past & past part. spelled; pres. part. spelling)
1.
Orally recite the letters of or give the spelling of.  Synonym: spell out.  "We had to spell out our names for the police officer"
2.
Indicate or signify.  Synonym: import.
3.
Write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word).  Synonym: write.
4.
Relieve (someone) from work by taking a turn.
5.
Place under a spell.
6.
Take turns working.



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"Spell" Quotes from Famous Books



... a strange party that took breakfast at the Big House table on the morning after the railway wreck. All these guests, injured or well, crippled or whole, were gay and talkative. Gestures, hysterical smiles marked their conduct. Their faces showed no spell of horror. Men had looked at the long row of dead on the platform at the station. "That is my father," said one; and another, "This is my sister," but they spoke impersonally, and only to satisfy the curiosity of others. ...
— The Law of the Land • Emerson Hough

... the distant mountain. We passed the day in enlarging the tank, and were glad to find that, though no increase in the supply of water was observable, still there seemed no diminution, as now a horse could fill himself at one spell. We took a stroll up into the rocks and gullies of the ridges, and found a Troglodytes' cave ornamented with the choicest specimens of aboriginal art. The rude figures of snakes were the principal objects, but hands, and devices for shields were also conspicuous. One ...
— Australia Twice Traversed, The Romance of Exploration • Ernest Giles

... gleam of audaciousness in the Swede's eyes. His utterances produced a strange impression. Even if he had pronounced fewer wild paradoxes, Frederick von Kammacher would have succumbed to his spell. He eagerly sought for resemblances between father and daughter, or, more accurately, he observed them without seeking. They were very evident to one who, alas, to his own torture, was carrying the daughter's ...
— Atlantis • Gerhart Hauptmann

... on his horse like a rock shattering all that came against him! I warrant you the lances cracked and shivered like faggots under old Purkis's bill-hook. And that you should liefer pore over crabbed monkish stuff with yonder old men! My life on it, there must be some spell!" ...
— The Armourer's Prentices • Charlotte Mary Yonge

... saintlike, sweetness of her general presence. That is again beside him and bending over him, the same as ever; and it was certainly she! So for the few happy moments while the dream lasts; but he awakes, and the spell is broken. So dear has been that dream, however, that he will keep it as a sacred memory for himself in the last of ...
— The Life of John Milton, Volume 5 (of 7), 1654-1660 • David Masson


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