[f. SPAN v.2]

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  † 1.  The action of drawing tight, making close, etc.; the result of this. Obs.

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1527.  Andrew, Brunswyke’s Distyll. Waters, L ij. The same water … is good agaynst the spannyng of the harte.

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1592.  Shuttleworths’ Acc. (Chetham Soc.), 74. Houpinge and spannynge of the vesseles, xijd; the porteres for loding the same wyne, vjd.

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1597.  A. M., trans. Guillemeau’s Fr. Chirurg., 21 b/1–2. These svvelinges … cause noe payne, vnles it vveare great spanninge, of that parte might chaunce.

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  2.  The action of fastening, harnessing or yoking. Also with on.

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1874.  A. H. Markham, Whaling Cruise Baffin’s B., 25. All hands have been as busy as bees, employed in the operation of spanning on, which literally means attaching the lines to the harpoons.

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1882.  Schaff, Encycl. Relig. Knowl., I. 87. Ritualistic … considerations forbade the spanning of different species of animals.

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