[ad. Flem., Du. or LG. (also MDu. and MLG.) spannen, = OHG. spannan (G. spannen), OFris. spanna, sponna, OE. spannan to fix or fasten, to join, to draw tight, etc. Cf. also It. spannare, from Germanic.]
1. trans. To harness or yoke (oxen, horses, etc.); to attach to a vehicle. Also with in and out: see INSPAN v. and OUTSPAN v.1 (Cf. SPANG v.3)
In later use chiefly from S. African Dutch.
1550. Coverdale, Spir. Perle, vi. (1588), 70. He spanneth hys oxen, and goeth to the field.
1644. [Walsingham], Effigies True Fortitude, 15. Whil’st horses were span’d in to draw off the peices.
1656. Davenant, Siege of Rhodes, Wks. (1672), 23. Those Horses to that Carriage span! Drive, drive!
1836. A. F. Gardiner, Journ. Zoolu Country, 303. We left Berea, and spanned out on the flat.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Span,… to attach draught cattle to a wagon.
1894. Westm. Gaz., 11 Sept., 8/1. So one day he spanned-in his mules … and leisurely trekked to the widow’s homestead.
b. dial. To fetter or shackle (a horse).
1847. in Halliwell.
1865. R. Hunt, Pop. Rom. W. Eng. (1871), Ser. I. 112. There, by the roadside, stood an old, bony white horse, spanned with its halter.
1880–. in dial. glossaries (Cornw., Sussex, Kent).
c. transf. To enclose or confine.
1844. Lowell, Fatherland, i. Doth not the yearning spirit scorn In such scant borders to be spanned?
2. To stretch, extend, make taut or tight; to draw (a bow). Now arch.
The sense appears earlier under SPANNING vbl. sb.2
1597. A. M., trans. Guillemeau’s Fr. Chirurg., 20/1. VVhen as the inferior parte of the bellye is full of .. vvindes, and stiflye stretched out and spanned. Ibid., 45 b/1. The Ligature, vvil in one place be loosened, & in another spanned.
1658. A. Fox, Würtz’ Surg., I. vii. 28. The stitches [in a wound] are so pull’d and spann’d, that they tear out. Ibid., II. xxv. 155. With both hands keep it asunder, that the skin be spanned asunder.
1878. B. Taylor, Deukalion, III. i. 99. New bows I span, new arrows fill my quiver.
b. fig. with up.
1655. H. Vaughan, Silex Scint., I. 53. Be there before the shadows stretch And span up night. Ibid., 76. Faith spans up blisse.
3. † a. To wind up the wheel-lock of (a pistol or musket) by means of a spanner. Obs.
1639. R. Ward, Animadv. Warre, I. 296. In Marching or Trooping through a Towne forget not to have your Peeces spand. Ibid., 299. Span your Pistoll—This is performed by sinking the Pistoll into his Bridle hand, and taking the Spanner in his right hand, to put it upon the axeltree, and winding about the wheele till it sticke.
1649. C. Walker, Hist. Independ., II. 249. A party of Horse … with Swords drawne and their pistols spanned.
c. 1672. Verney Mem. (1907), II. 345. Having Pistols before me, I drew one and held it in my hand, so that I could span it in a moment for ffear of a surprise.
b. To screw tight with a spanner.
1859. F. A. Griffiths, Artill. Man. (ed. 8), 209, 5. Gives shot and wad to 3, runs out, trains, and spans the breeching.
4. Naut. To fix, attach, fasten, or draw tight in some way. Also with in.
1781. Archer, in Naval Chron., XI. 287. Spaned the booms; saw the boats all made fast.
1820. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 231. A harpoon thus prepared with foreganger and stock, is said to be ‘spanned in.’
1852. Burn, Naval & Mil. Dict., II. s.v., To span in the rigging. Ibid., To span the runners.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 640. Spanning a harpoon. Fixing the line which connects the harpoon and its staff. Ibid., Span in the rigging, To. To draw the upper parts of the shrouds together by tackles, in order to seize on the cat-harping legs.
5. intr. Of horses: To form a span or pair; to match in color and size. U.S.
1828. Webster, s.v., The horses span well. (New England.)
