Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

spoondrift

 - 5 dictionary results

spoon⋅drift

[spoon-drift]
–noun
spindrift.

Origin:
1760–70; spoon, var. of obs. spoom (of a ship) to run or scud before the wind + drift

spin⋅drift

[spin-drift]
–noun
spray swept by a violent wind along the surface of the sea.


Origin:
1590–1600; var. of Scots speendrift spoondrift
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To spoondrift
spin·drift   (spĭn'drĭft')   
n.  Windblown sea spray. Also called spoondrift.

[Variant of Scots spenedrift : spene (variant of obsolete spoon, to run before the wind) + drift.]
spoon·drift   (spōōn'drĭft')   
n.  See spindrift.

[Obsolete spoon, to run before the wind + drift.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

spindrift 
1600, Scottish formation from verb spene, alteration of spoon "to sail before the wind" (1576, of uncertain origin) + drift. "Common in English writers from c 1880, probably at first under the influence of W. Black's novels" [OED].
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see spoondrift on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: