Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An animal's teat.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun archaic A teat or nipple of a
cow - verb archaic to
wean
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal, [Withered (?), wean]
Robert Burns How To Know Him William Allan Neilson 1907
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The farmer is talking with a friend who has looked in from the lane in passing, and carries a two-spean spud, or Canterbury hoe, with points instead of a broad blade.
Field and Hedgerow Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies Richard Jefferies 1867
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He was one of the most conceited persons in the world, but a good teacher; one of the ugliest countenances he had that need be exhibited -- enough, as we say, to _spean weans_.
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume I (of 10) 1824
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_spae_, to foretell, to prophesy; _spean_, a teat, (as a verb) to wean; _spelk_, a splinter, thin piece of wood; _steg_, a gander;
English Dialects From the Eighth Century to the Present Day 1873
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He was one of the most conceited persons in the world, but a good teacher -- one of the ugliest countenances he had too -- enough, as we say, to spean weans. [
The Journal of Sir Walter Scott From the Original Manuscript at Abbotsford Walter Scott 1801
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