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span
1[ span ]
noun
- the distance between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the little finger when the hand is fully extended.
- a unit of length corresponding to this distance, commonly taken as 9 inches (23 centimeters).
- a distance, amount, piece, etc., of this length or of some small extent:
a span of lace.
- Civil Engineering, Architecture.
- the distance between two supports of a structure.
- the structure so supported.
- the distance or space between two supports of a bridge.
- the full extent, stretch, or reach of anything:
a long span of memory.
- Aeronautics. the distance between the wing tips of an airplane.
- a limited space of time, as the term or period of living:
Our span on earth is short.
- Mathematics. the smallest subspace of a vector space that contains a given element or set of elements.
verb (used with object)
- to measure by the hand with the thumb and little finger extended.
- to encircle with the hand or hands, as the waist.
- to extend over or across (a section of land, a river, etc.).
- to provide with something that extends over:
to span a river with a bridge.
- to extend or reach over (space or time):
a memory that spans 90 years.
- Mathematics. to function (in a subspace of a vector space) as a span.
- Archery. to bend (the bow) in preparation for shooting.
span
2[ span ]
noun
- a pair of horses or other animals harnessed and driven together.
Synonyms: team
span
3[ span ]
verb
- a simple past tense of spin.
Span.
4abbreviation for
- Spaniard.
- Spanish.
span
2/ spæn /
noun
- a team of horses or oxen, esp two matched animals
Span.
3abbreviation for
- Spanish
span
4/ spæn /
noun
- the interval, space, or distance between two points, such as the ends of a bridge or arch
- the complete duration or extent
the span of his life
- psychol the amount of material that can be processed in a single mental act
span of attention
apprehension span
- See wingspanshort for wingspan
- a unit of length based on the width of an expanded hand, usually taken as nine inches
verb
- to stretch or extend across, over, or around
- to provide with something that extends across or around
to span a river with a bridge
- to measure or cover, esp with the extended hand
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Word History and Origins
Origin of span1
Origin of span2
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Word History and Origins
Origin of span1
Origin of span2
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Idioms and Phrases
see spick and span .Discover More
Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
The human attention span is evolving in such a way that they can skip around.
RELATED: Wing Span: The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (PHOTOS) Not everyone agreed with her assessment.
Five times during that span, the majority of species on the planet vanished in a short interval of time.
In battle, it means the ability to shift from suicide bombers to tank columns and maneuver warfare in the span of a day.
Typically, new equipment is developed in the span of two or three years.
Messrs. Spick and Span's representative was wounded in his tenderest point, but his firm carried out the order to the letter.
Part of that idea was sham bric-à-brac, the rest was carte blanche to Messrs. Spick and Span.
Originally it had one great roof of a single span, second only to that of St. Pancras Station.
That was "back in the Sixties," when his lapses were as far apart as they were unrivalled in consumption, span, and pyrotechny.
He seems to think he is mooting to me a spick and span new idea—that he has invented something.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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