Also 6 spase. [f. SPACE sb.1, or ad. F. espacer († espacier, espatier) to space, etc., = Sp. espaciar, Pg. espaçar, It. spaziare, L. spatiārī to walk, to extend.]
† 1. trans. ? To pave or lay. Obs.–1
1538. Leland, Itin. (1769), VII. 71. Ther is a very large Courte buildyd about with Tymbar and spacyd withe Brike.
2. To limit or bound in respect of space; to make of a certain extent.
1548. Geste, Pr. Masse, 86. Not placely as ther placed, spaced, and mesured, but ghostly as ther unplaced, unspaced, and not measured.
1578. Gorg. Gallery Gallant Inv., I. Her forehead seemely spaste, wherin doo shine her eyes.
a. 1628. F. Grevil, Cælica, Prol. 2. A place there is … Deepe vnder depthes…; darke, infinitely spaced; Pluto the King.
1835. Fraser’s Mag., XII. 416. In so far as Lamarck has defined nature to be motion,… space, and time, without reference to a being moving or moved,… or being time and spaced.
3. † a. To divide into spaces or sections. Also const. by or with. Obs. rare.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, 333. Dwarf Gentian hath rounde stalkes … spaced with certayne knottie ioyntes. Ibid., 564. The stalke is crested, holowe within, spaced by joyntes or knobbes.
1578. Whetstone, Promos & Cass., II. I. iv. So space your roomes, as the nyne worthyes may Be so instauld, as best may please the eye.
b. dial. To measure (ground, etc.) by pacing.
1808. in Jamieson.
1823–. dial. glossaries, etc.
4. To set or place, to arrange or put, at determinate intervals or distances.
1703. T. N., City & C. Purchaser, 186. All Rafters are not spaced alike.
1715. Leoni, Palladio’s Archit. (1742), I. 16. This manner of spacing the Columns, is … call’d Diastylos.
1776. G. Semple, Building in Water, 115. The flooring Joists … are to be … spaced at 18 Inches asunder.
1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 Oct., 5/1. Each spar was spaced 8 ft. apart.
absol. 1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 299/2. Some of the [blind-stile] machines space as well as bore or mortise.
b. Similarly with out.
1712. J. James, trans. Le Blond’s Gardening, 156. You space out and range all the others by them. Ibid., 160. The Plants are spaced out, or the Fruit set at three Foot Distances.
1896. H. Woodward, Guide Fossil Reptiles Brit. Mus., 119. Sparnodus … is an extinct genus [of fish]…, having the teeth somewhat ‘spaced out.’
1899. Daily News, 19 Dec., 5/1. Ice … must … be thicker than that if it is to support a body of troops, or the men must be properly spaced out.
c. refl. (Also with out.)
1700. J. Monro, Lett., in Misc. Curiosa (1708), III. 399. There is provided a noble and a vast convenience full of variety for the others, to space themselves freely and with pleasure in.
1896. C. K. Paul, trans. Huysman’s En Route, II. iv. 219. Mortifications space themselves out, fatigues are distributed over years, and, on the whole, are easily borne.
5. Typogr. a. With out: To extend to a required length by inserting additional space between the words (or lines).
1683. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xxii. ¶ 8. He intends to Space-out the rest if it were not too Wide Set at first. Ibid. Unless his Matter was … so Wide Set that he can Space out no more.
1816. Singer, Hist. Cards, 132. The improved method of spacing out the lines.
1892. A. Oldfield, Man. Typog., ii. 25. [It is advisable] to read copy whilst spacing out the line.
b. To separate (words, letters or lines) by means of a space or spaces; occas. = prec.
In recent use also with ref. to type-writing.
1771. Luckombe, Hist. Print., 249. The care the Compositor took in spacing his matter. Ibid., 251. Small Capitals are generally Spaced, as well as Large Capitals.
1808. Stower, Printer’s Gram., vi. 160. Where a line is even spaced, and yet requires justification.
1875. Lightfoot, Comm. Col., 231/1. This idea is … expressed … in the words which are spaced.
absol. 1771. Luckombe, Hist. Print., 398. To space open and wide, is no advantage to a Compositor.
† 6. intr. To walk, ramble or roam. Obs.
a. 1572. Knox, Hist. Ref., Wks. 1846, I. 137. The said Maister George spaced up and doune behynd the hie altar more then half ane houre.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., IV. viii. 54. That he sometimes may space And walke about her gardens of delight. Ibid. (a. 1599), Ibid., VII. vi. 55. That Wolues, where she was wont to space, Should harbour’d be.
