Part 619

Speak"ing, n. 1. The act of uttering words.

2. Public declamation; oratory.

Spear (?), n. [OE. spere, AS. spere; akin to D. & G. speer, OS. & OHS. sper, Icel. spjör, pl., Dan. spær, L. sparus.] 1. A long, pointed weapon, used in war and hunting, by thrusting or throwing; a weapon with a long shaft and a sharp head or blade; a lance. [See Illust. of Spearhead.] "A sharp ground spear." Chaucer.

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.

Micah iv. 3.

2. Fig.: A spearman. Sir W. Scott.

3. A sharp-pointed instrument with barbs, used for stabbing fish and other animals.

4. A shoot, as of grass; a spire.

5. The feather of a horse. See Feather, n., 4.

6. The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod.

Spear foot, the off hind foot of a horse. -- Spear grass. (Bot.) (a) The common reed. See Reed, n., 1. (b) meadow grass. See under Meadow. -- Spear hand, the hand in which a horseman holds a spear; the right hand. Crabb. -- Spear side, the male line of a family. Lowell. -- Spear thistle (Bot.), the common thistle (Cnicus lanceolatus).

Spear, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Speared (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Spearing.] To pierce with a spear; to kill with a spear; as, to spear a fish.

Spear, v. i. To shoot into a long stem, as some plants. See Spire. Mortimer.

Spear"er (?), n. One who uses a spear; as, a spearer of fish.

Spear"fish` (?), n. (Zoöl.) (a) A large and powerful fish (Tetrapturus albidus) related to the swordfish, but having scales and ventral fins. It is found on the American coast and the Mediterranean. (b) The carp sucker.

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Spear"head` (?), n. The pointed head, or end, of a spear.

Spear"man (?), n.; pl. Spearmen (&?;). One who is armed with a spear. Acts xxiii. 23.

Spear"mint` (?), n. [So named from its spiry, not capitate, inflorescence. Dr. Prior.] (Bot.) A species of mint (Mentha viridis) growing in moist soil. It vields an aromatic oil. See Mint, and Mentha.

Spear"wood` (?), n. (Bot.) An Australian tree (Acacia Doratoxylon), and its tough wood, used by the natives for spears.

Spear"wort` (?), n. [AS. sperewyrt.] (Bot.) A name given to several species of crowfoot (Ranunculus) which have spear-shaped leaves.

Spear"y (?), a. Having the form of a spear.

Spece (?), n. Species; kind. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Specht (?), n. [See Speight.] (Zoöl.) A woodpecker. [Obs. or prov. Eng.] Sherwood.

Spe"cial (?), a. [L. specialis, fr. species a particular sort, kind, or quality: cf. F. spécial. See Species, and cf. Especial.] 1. Of or pertaining to a species; constituting a species or sort.

A special is called by the schools a "species".

I. Watts.

2. Particular; peculiar; different from others; extraordinary; uncommon.