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spiel

 - 3 dictionary results

spiel

  [speel, shpeel] Informal.
Use spiel in a Sentence
–noun
1. a usually high-flown talk or speech, esp. for the purpose of luring people to a movie, a sale, etc.; pitch.
–verb (used without object)
2. to speak extravagantly.
Origin:
1890–95; (n.) < G Spiel or Yiddish shpil play, game; (v.) < G spielen or Yiddish shpiln to play, gamble
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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spiel   (spēl, shpēl)   
n.  A lengthy or extravagant speech or argument usually intended to persuade.
intr. & tr.v.   spieled, spiel·ing, spiels
To talk or say (something) at length or extravagantly.

[German, play, or Yiddish shpil, both from Middle High German spil, from Old High German.]
spiel'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

spiel  (n.)
"glib speech, pitch," 1896, probably from verb (1894) meaning "to speak in a glib manner," earlier "to play circus music" (1870), from Ger. spielen "to play," from O.H.G. spilon (cognate with O.E. spilian "to play"). The noun also perhaps from Ger. Spiel "play, game."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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