Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

spick and span

 - 2 dictionary results

spick-and-span

[spik-uhn-span]
–adjective
1. spotlessly clean and neat: a spick-and-span kitchen.
2. perfectly new; fresh.
–adverb
3. in a spick-and-span manner.

Origin:
1570–80; short for spick-and-span-new, alliterative extension of span-new
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To spick and span
Idioms & Phrases

spick and span

Neat and clean, as in When Ruth has finished cleaning, the whole house is spick and span. This term combines two nouns that are now obsolete, spick, "a nail" or "spike," and span, "a wooden chip." In the 1500s a sailing ship was considered spick and span when every spike and chip was brand-new. The transfer to the current sense took place in the mid-1800s.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see spick and span on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: