Standard Lemma guide
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
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adj
Clean, spotless.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
Synonyms: clean, clean as a bean, clean as a hound's tooth, clean as a new penny, clean as a new pin, clean as a whistle, immaculate, pristine, spick-and-span, spotless, squeaky clean, stainless, unsoiled, unsullied
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
completely neat and clean
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: immaculate, speckless, spic-and-span, spic, spick, spotless
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
conspicuously new
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: brand-new, bran-new, spic-and-span
Antonyms: none provided
History
From spick-and-span-new (literally “new as a recently made spike and chip of wood”) (1570s), from spick (“nail”, variant of spike) + Middle English span-new (“very new”) (from circa 1300 until 1800s), from Old Norse span-nyr, from spann (“chip”) (cognate to Old English spón, English spoon, due to spoons once being made of wood) + nyr (“new”) (cognate to Old English nīewe, English new). Imitation of Dutch spiksplinternieuw (literally “spike-splinter new”), for a freshly built ship. Observe that fresh woodchips are firm and light (if from light wood), but decay and darken rapidly, hence the origin of the term.
Across languages
13 source translations are retained for this English entry.
