spall

[ spawl ]

noun

1. a chip or splinter, as of stone or ore.

verb (used with object)

1. to break into smaller pieces, as ore; split or chip.

verb (used without object)

1. to break or split off in chips or bits.

spall

/ spɔːl /

noun

1. a splinter or chip of ore, rock, or stone

verb

1. to split or cause to split into such fragments

Other Words From

• spaller noun
• non·spalling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of spall¹

1750–60; origin uncertain; compare late Middle English spalle a chip

Word History and Origins

Origin of spall¹

C15: of unknown origin

Example Sentences

Spall says that, faced with the contradictions in the research, they created an amalgam of them.

From The Daily Beast

Tim [Spall] could well be nominated and not win because Hollywood films tend to win.

From The Daily Beast

Spall spent two years training to paint in preparation for the role.

From The Daily Beast

Spall plays him brilliantly as a grumbling, grunting beast of a man whose sensitivity and kindness emerges slowly.

From The Daily Beast

Spall was rewarded for his hard work with the best actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

From The Daily Beast

Mr. Joseph D. McGuire fabricates a grooved jade ax from an entirely rough spall in less than a hundred hours.

From Project Gutenberg