rare. [app. an abbreviation of SPATULE.]
† 1. (See quots.) Obs.–0
1647. Hexham, I. s.v., A Spat or an instrument that Chirurgions use in spreading their salves.
1656. Blount, Glossogr., Spat,… a little slice or Splatter, wherewith Surgeons and Apothecaries use to spread their plaisters and salves.
2. A flat implement used in playing ball-games.
1866. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., 180. A … version of racquets, with a ‘spat’ and an India rubber ball.
