DCHP-1 Online

spell ((v.))

• 1a v. Esp. North stop for a spell (def. 2).

  See also: spell ((n.))  (def. 2)  

  • 1912  We "spelled" twice a day to eat, making four meals in all, a general rule on the trail.
  • 1927  (1937)  Here we spelled and had a cup of tea and frazzled hide with a little bit of sugar.

• 1b v. Esp. North give a rest to (dogs) for a specific time.

  • 1921  Now the brigade was halted, in voyageur parlance, "to spell the dogs one smoke."
  • 1922  Soon they came to the place where the men ahead of them had stopped to "spell" their dogs.

• 2 v. Nfld Dial. See quotes.

  • 1920  There is an old story about a foreigner who once asked, "How do you spell 'swile' ?" The answer the fisherman gave him was, "We don't spell [carry] 'em. We mostly hauls 'em."
  • 1933  "How do you spell it ?" [wood] "Sometimes I spells it in my apron, Sir, and sometimes I spells it in my arms."
  • 1944  To spell (gather) a yafful (armful) of crunnocks (kindling). 1921 Newfoundland.