spile


Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

spile

 (spīl)
n.
1. A post used as a foundation; a pile.
2. A wooden plug; a bung.
3. A spout used in taking sap from a tree.
tr.v. spiled, spil·ing, spiles
1. To support with a spile.
2. To plug or tap with a spile.

[Dutch spijl, wooden pin, from Middle Dutch spīle.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

spile

(spaɪl)
n
1. (Building) a heavy timber stake or pile
2. (Forestry) US and Canadian a spout for tapping sap from the sugar maple tree
3. (Tools) a plug or spigot
vb (tr)
4. (Building) to provide or support with a spile
5. (Forestry) US to tap (a tree) with a spile
6. dialect Northern English a splinter
[C16: probably from Middle Dutch spile peg; related to Icelandic spila skewer, Latin spīna thorn]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

spile

(spaɪl)

n., v. spiled, spil•ing. n.
1. a peg or plug of wood, esp. one used as a spigot.
2. a spout for conducting sap from the sugar maple.
3. a heavy wooden stake or pile.
v.t.
4. to stop up (a hole) with a spile.
5. to tap by means of a spile.
6. to strengthen or support with spiles.
[1505–15; < Middle Dutch or Middle Low German spile splinter, peg; c. German Speil]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

spile


Past participle: spiled
Gerund: spiling

Imperative
spile
spile
Present
I spile
you spile
he/she/it spiles
we spile
you spile
they spile
Preterite
I spiled
you spiled
he/she/it spiled
we spiled
you spiled
they spiled
Present Continuous
I am spiling
you are spiling
he/she/it is spiling
we are spiling
you are spiling
they are spiling
Present Perfect
I have spiled
you have spiled
he/she/it has spiled
we have spiled
you have spiled
they have spiled
Past Continuous
I was spiling
you were spiling
he/she/it was spiling
we were spiling
you were spiling
they were spiling
Past Perfect
I had spiled
you had spiled
he/she/it had spiled
we had spiled
you had spiled
they had spiled
Future
I will spile
you will spile
he/she/it will spile
we will spile
you will spile
they will spile
Future Perfect
I will have spiled
you will have spiled
he/she/it will have spiled
we will have spiled
you will have spiled
they will have spiled
Future Continuous
I will be spiling
you will be spiling
he/she/it will be spiling
we will be spiling
you will be spiling
they will be spiling
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been spiling
you have been spiling
he/she/it has been spiling
we have been spiling
you have been spiling
they have been spiling
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been spiling
you will have been spiling
he/she/it will have been spiling
we will have been spiling
you will have been spiling
they will have been spiling
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been spiling
you had been spiling
he/she/it had been spiling
we had been spiling
you had been spiling
they had been spiling
Conditional
I would spile
you would spile
he/she/it would spile
we would spile
you would spile
they would spile
Past Conditional
I would have spiled
you would have spiled
he/she/it would have spiled
we would have spiled
you would have spiled
they would have spiled
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.spile - a column of wood or steel or concrete that is driven into the ground to provide support for a structurespile - a column of wood or steel or concrete that is driven into the ground to provide support for a structure
pillar, column - (architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure
sheath pile, sheet pile, sheet piling - a pile in a row of piles driven side by side to retain earth or prevent seepage
2.spile - a plug used to close a hole in a barrel or flask
barrel, cask - a cylindrical container that holds liquids
plug, stopple, stopper - blockage consisting of an object designed to fill a hole tightly
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
Veller's compliments--to the justice, and tell him I've spiled his beadle, and that, if he'll swear in a new 'un, I'll come back again to-morrow and spile him.
"Oh, Harvey, don't you spile the catch by lettin' on."
Spare the rod and spile the child, as the Good Book says.
I'd sooner by half, though I lose by it, see a man tear his clothes a' purpose to spile 'em before they come to me, than find him snivelling.
All the time the first witnesses was proving the bad blood and the threats and all that, Tom Sawyer was alive and laying for them; and the minute they was through, he went for them, and done his level best to catch them in lies and spile their testimony.
Besides, Tom,' says I, `it jest spiles your gals; they get sickly, and down in the mouth; and sometimes they gets ugly,--particular yallow gals do,--and it's the devil and all gettin' on 'em broke in.
Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some looking over the bulwarks glasses!
TASTE TEST After a thoroughly modern makeover it's all systems go at a traditional Bangor hostelry, as my husband Hugh and I found when we had dinner at the Tap and Spile, an award winning cask ale pub.
The Sugar Bush Fair was expected to draw about 1,800 visitors to Spring Valley Nature Center, where they could check out five exhibition areas, including a Native American camp, an 1800s pioneer camp, sumac spile making, tree tapping activity and a syrup boil-down demonstration.
Phil Barkley, of D&G Pub Company Ltd, which also owns several Teesside pubs including the Tap and Spile in Guisborough, stepped in to run The Hollybush towards the end as a favour to the brewery, but ended up losing money on the venture.
If the tree is healthy when tapped and proper tapping procedures are followed, the tap hole will start healing within a few weeks of the spile's removal, and the tree will be perfectly fine.