noun · verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/spɛld/
rhymes with -ɛld
1
noun
Meaning 1
A chip of wood; a splinter.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Northern-England, Scotland, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
verb
Meaning 2
To split.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Northern-England, Scotland, dialectal
Examples
I'm gonna speld your head asunderǃ You worthless gat.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English speld, spelde, from Old English speld (“a splinter; a chip of wood; torch”), from Proto-Germanic *speldą (“splinter, board”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to split”).