Dictionaries › English

spile

Pronunciation: /spaɪl/

The English word “spile” has 10 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A splinter.
  2. A spigot or plug used to stop the hole in a barrel or cask.
  3. A spout inserted in a maple (or other tree) to draw off sap.
  4. A pile; a post or girder.

verb

  1. To plug (a hole) with a spile.
  2. To draw off (a liquid) using a spile.
  3. To provide (a barrel, tree etc.) with a spile.
  4. To support by means of spiles.
  5. To drive piles into.
  6. spoil.

Etymology

From Middle Dutch or Middle Low German spile (“splinter, peg”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *spīlaz (“splinter, peg”), from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“prickle, pointed stick”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian spyl, German Speil (“chip, splinter, gore, wedge”), Danish spile, Dutch spijl.

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “spile” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.