▪ I. spice, n.
(spaɪs)
Forms: 3 spis, 4, 6 spise, spyse, 4–6 spyce, 3– spice.
[ad. OF. espice (mod.F. épice), ad. L. speciēs species. Cf. spece.]
1. a. One or other of various strongly flavoured or aromatic substances of vegetable origin, obtained from tropical plants, commonly used as condiments or employment for other purposes on account of their fragrance and preservative qualities.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 370 Þe on was iwuned, uor his kolde mawe uorto nutten hote spices. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2247 Fruit and spices of dere pris, Bereð ðat man ðat is so wis. a 1272 Luue Ron 168 in O.E. Misc., Þu ert swetture þan eny spis. 13.. K. Alis. 5651 (Laud MS.), Þer ne groweþ no whete, Ne oþer corne, bot spyces swete, Þerof hij maken her breed. 1382 Wyclif Luke xxiii. 56 And thei turnynge aȝen, maden redy swete spices, and oynementis. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 11 Do þer to pynys and saunders,..And oþer goode spyces þou take. 1450–80 tr. Secreta Secret. 33 Lete him haue savor of encence and othir good spicis among. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxi. 243 It is not possyble to gyue ony trewe Iugemente when you and we are full of wyne and spyces. 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 27 Pouderinge with spyces the bodye therein inclosed, that no euyll sauoure maye passe foorth. 1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Del. ii. iii. (1635) 53 Let our Merchants answer, which owe their Spices to Arabia. 1692 Tryon Good Housew. made Doctor xvii. 143 Such a prodigious encrease of sugars, Spanish Fruits, Wines and Spices. 1725 Sloane Jamaica II. 77 It may deservedly be counted one of the best spices in common use, having a very fine relish of many, from thence call'd All-Spice. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1851) II. 816/2 The spices and rich robes that were burned with him were very expensive. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 646 Baked in pies with spices, they have an excellent flavour. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn lix, Nero had so many spices burnt at her funeral that the learned doubted whether Arabia could furnish more in a single summer. |
b. fig. (In
ME. sometimes applied to persons.)
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 78 Hope is a swete spice wiðinne þe heorte. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 235 Ho profered me speche þat special spyce. Ibid. 938 Þat specyal spyce þen to me spakk. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxviii. 21 Heil spice sprong þat neuer was spent. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 21 That heuenly spyce hit is ful swete. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. i. §3 This correctiue spice, the mixture whereof maketh knowledge so soueraigne, is Charitie. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. x. iii. 179 No Grandee Patron court I, nor entice Love-glances from enchanting Eyes, Nor Blandishments from lisping Wantons vocall Spice. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 606 Variety's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour. 1859 Habits Gd. Society xii. 323 The gentlemen of the bar..make a charming spice to a dinner. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. x. 358 He meant something more, which gives the real spice to his writings. |
c. An odour or perfume arising from, or resembling that of, spices. (
Cf. 2 c.)
| 1560 Bible (Geneva) Song Sol. iv. 16 Blowe on my garden, that the spices thereof may flowe out. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. xxii. i, The woodbine spices are wafted abroad. |
2. a. Without article, as a substance or in collective sense. (In
Sc. use
freq. = pepper.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 2103 Asie..es þe best, for þar in es..Precius stans and spice of prise. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) vi. 67 Thei ete it in stede of Spice. 1474 Caxton Chesse 101 Medecynes maad wyth precious spyce. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 217 To whom the Erle of Sussex..brought a voyde of spice and comfettes. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iii. 128 Your purse is not hot enough to purchase your Spice. 1694 Crowne Regulus ii. 12 A man all vertue, like a pye all spice, will not please. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 18 Apr., They use a great deal of rich spice. 1805 Southey Madoc in W. xv, The dead,..with precious gums and spice Fragrant, and incorruptibly preserved. 1842 Longfellow Quadroon Girl iii, Odours of orange-flowers and spice Reached them. |
b. dial. (See
quots.)
| 1674 Ray N.C. Words 44 Spice: Raisins, plums, figs and such like fruit. York-sh. [Hence in Bailey and Grose.] 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 354 Spice, dried fruit, as raisins, currants, etc. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Spice, sweet meats of any kind. 1855 [Robinson] Whitby Gloss., Spice, the common term here for sweetmeats and confectionery of all sorts, but especially for gingerbread articles. |
c. Spicy fragrance. (
Cf. 1 c.)
| 1833 Tennyson Pal. Art 116, A summer fann'd with spice. 1850 ― In Mem. ci, And many a rose-carnation [shall] feed With summer spice the humming air. |
d. techn. (See
quot.)
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Spice,..a technical name among sugar-refiners for bullocks'-blood. |
e. A medicated preparation added to cattle or horse feed. ? Now only
Hist.| 1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art of Husbandry 157 Take a quart of Ale, half an ounce of Diapente.., Horse-spice two Ounces. 1928 E. P. Oppenheim Chron. Melhampton 143 A retired dealer in cattle spices. 1961 M. W. Barley Eng. Farmhouse & Cottage v. i. 253 Thomas Morrison kept a much more interesting shop, in the last years of the seventeenth century... There was ironmongery..‘horse spice and jollop’ for the farmer. |
† 3. a. A sort, kind, or species.
Obs.| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 7585 Ȝyt þyr ys a-noþer spyce Þat cumþ of þe fendes malyce. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶102 The spices of penitence ben thre. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. xiii. 228 Ech spice of moral yuel is moral yuel, and is a morali yuel spice. 1483 Caxton Cato 3 b, Of the seuen spyces of ydolatrye. 1528 Paynell Salerne's Regim. b j b, There is an other spice of fleure, which is swete and some what warme. 1587 Golding De Mornay xiv. (1596) 211 For alterations or chaunges, are spices, or rather consequents of moouing. |
† b. In the
phr. a spice of, a kind of.
Obs. Freq. not clearly distinguishable from sense 5.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 27 For þis is a spise of pride that men clepen ypocrisie. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 180 Allopucia is a maner spice of lepre þat comeþ of rotid fleume. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1885) 144 Such givinge were no vertu, but a spice of prodigalite. 1520 Whitinton Vulg. (1527) 3 b, It is a spyce of peuysshe pryde..whan a man wyll take a singuler waye by hymselfe. 1538 Elyot Addit., Cachexia, a spyce of a consumption, which procedeth of an yll disposition of the body. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster iv. vi, Bountie is A spice of vertue. |
† 4. a. Appearance, semblance.
Obs.| 1382 Wyclif 1 Thess. v. 22 Absteyne ȝou fro al yuel spice, or liknesse. 1382 ― 2 Tim. iii. 5 Hauynge sothli the spice, or licnesse, of pite, forsothe denyinge the vertu of it. |
† b. = species 2.
Obs.—1| c 1425 Orolog. Sapient. vi. in Anglia X. 377 So longe tyme dwellith goddis body as ben hole þe spices of þe sacramente. |
† c. = species 6.
Obs.—1| 1547 Baldwin Mor. Philos. (1564) 106 Plato affirmeth that there is set in the soule of man..certaine spices, or as it were seedes of thinges. |
5. a. A slight touch or trace
of some physical disorder or malady. Now
dial.| a 1479 Harding Chron. Pref. xxv, Though this werke haue some spice of blindnesse, Yet is the autoure not to bee blamed muche. 1530 Palsgr. 274/1 Spyce of the axes. 1579–80 North Plutarch, Sylla (1895) III. 304 A paine and numnesse in his legges;..Strabo calleth it a spice of the gowte. 1635 R. Brathwait Arcadian Princ. 44 Sure I am, their whole family seemes to have a spice of the same malady. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 96, I had a little Spice of the cold Fit, but it was not much. 1733 Swift Let. to Sheridan 27 Mar., Wks. 1841 II. 700/2, I have been much out of order with a spice of my giddiness. 1838 Holloway Prov. Dict. s.v., I have a spice of the rheumatism. |
b. A slight touch, trace, or share, a dash or flavour,
of some thing or quality.
In later use frequently with suggestion of sense 1.
| 1531 Elyot Gov. i. xix, Daunsis whiche..contained in them a spice of idolatrie. 1564 Brief Exam. B ij, Those..do go about with these reliques to maynteyne at least a little spyse of Masse. 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl ii. i, I had my Latin tongue, and a spice of the French. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 169 The contrary practice hath indeed within it a spice of slander. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 39 ¶42 There must be a Spice of Romantick Gallantry in the composition of that very Pretty Fellow. 1790 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) III. 16 The Flemings have a spice of obstinacy in their character. 1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies 280 The horse..had a considerable spice of devil in his composition. 1887 Jessopp Arcady ii. 49 A certain gentle rebuke at your negligence and a spice of jealousy too. |
c. A specimen or sample.
rare.
| 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2) Suppl., Spice, a sample. I gave him a spice of his behaviour. c 1816 Mrs. Sherwood Stories Ch. Catech. xi. 91 He would often give the company a spice of what he had learned at school. |
† 6. Cant. (See
quot.)
Obs.| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., The spice is the game of footpad robbery... A spice is a footpad robber. |
7. a. attrib. in combinations denoting receptacles or places for holding spice, as
spice-bag,
spice-bowl,
† spice bust,
spice-cabinet,
spice-dish,
spice-house,
spice jar, etc., or preparations in which spice is an ingredient, as
spice-ball,
spice-bread,
spice-broth,
spice-bun, etc.; also misc., as
spice-bazaar,
spice-blossom,
spice-merchant,
spice-plant,
spice-shop,
spice-trade. Also
spice-box, etc.
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Alcartaz para especias, a *spice bag, a coffin for spice. |
| 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., *Spice-balls, same as Faggits [a kind of sausages made of the liver and lights of a pig, boiled with sweet herbs, and finely chopped]. 1879 Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 71 There are very likely other ingredients..in the proper spice-balls, and a native ‘vet’..will withhold some principal ingredient while pretending to give you the whole recipe. |
| 1924 R. Graves Mock Beggar Hall 6 Scepticos heard this popular Figment in the *spice-bazaar. |
| 1819 Keats Fall Hyperion i. 21 Where trees of every clime,..With plantain, and *spice-blossoms, made a screen. |
| 1665 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 50 W., at Jeanses with *spice-bolls, 7d. 1727 Somerville Fables Wks. 1790 II. 106 In cradles, whittles, spice-bowls, sack, Whate'er the wanton gossips lack. |
| 1555 Machyn Diary (Camden) 91 After durge *speysse-bred and wine. 1579 W. Fulke Refut. Rastel 728 His comparing of the sacrament with spicebread and cake-bread sauoureth of a mynde that..derideth all religion. 1897 R. M. Gilchrist Peakland 69 The landlady was busily kneading spice-bread. |
| 1777 Brand Pop. Antiq. App. 336 A smoking Prize of *Spice-Broth. |
| 1857 Househ. Words XVI. 201 They all..sat down to regale on the tea and *spice-buns we had provided. |
| 1489 Acta Dom. Concil. (1839) 131 Þe dosane of siluer spvnis, siluer salt-fat, & *spice bust. |
| 1893–4 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Fall & Winter 120/3 *Spice cabinets, 90c. |
| 1420 E.E. Wills (1882) 46 Also a *spyce disshe of seluer. |
| 1863 in Robson Bards of Tyne 22 There will be pies and *spice dumplings. |
| 1468–9 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 92 Pro nova construccione unius *spyce-house ad exitum Coquine, xxxs. 1591 Exch. Rolls Scotl. XXII. 121 Andro Quhyte, maister in the spicehous. |
| 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 359/3 German china cereal and *spice jars..with names of spices or cereals on each jar. 1977 C. Watson One Man's Meat iii. 25 The dining enclosure..was screened from cook top and sluice unit by rubber plants and rows of spice jars. |
| 1588 Exch. Rolls Scotl. XXI. 368 David Manteithe, maister in the *spyce lardner. |
| 1611 Bible 1 Kings x. 15 The traffique of the *spice-merchants. |
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 5383, Examples of the most useful *spice plants. |
| 1824 Piper Dial. Sheffield 22 (E.D.D.), *Spice-pudding. |
| c 1475 Cath. Angl. 355/1 A *Spice schope, apotheca vel ipotheca. 1647 Hexham i, A spice shop, een specerye winckel. 1860 Ingledew Ballads Yks. 278 This wor a spice shop, where t' lads met. |
| 1885 Broad Yks. 25 Temptin' *spice-stalls rang'd i' rows. |
| 1670 R. Coke Disc. Trade 39 If the French King can establish a *Spice Trade, wherein he is wonderously industruous. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 331 The good fortune of the Dutch, is rendering themselves masters of the spice-trade. |
| 1590 in Archaeol. XL. 333 Item, iij *spice treyes, xvjd. |
| 1848 tr. Hoffmeister's Trav. Ceylon, etc. iv. 171 It is the Bazaar, in which..the *spice-warehouses predominate. |
b. Comb., as
spice-bearer,
spice-seller,
spice-vendor;
spice-bearing,
spice-breathing,
spice-burnt,
spice-enrichened,
spice-fraught,
spice-sweet,
spice-warmed adjs.| 1845 Kitto Cycl. Bibl. Lit. sv. Burial, In the splendid funeral procession of Herod, 500 of his servants attended as *spice-bearers. |
| 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 647 The *spice-bearing trees of the Moluccas. |
| 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche iii. ccxiv, As one..doth wondring go Through those *spice-breathing paths. 1858 Brit. Q. Rev. LVI. 344 Raleigh's search after spice-breathing islands and gold-paved cities. |
| 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxvi, Rarer then the onely Fowle of *Spice-burnt Ashes bread. |
| 1940 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil's Georgics ii. 39 Nor all Arabia's acres of *spice-enrichened soil. |
| 1868 J. H. Newman Verses Var. Occas. 42 Transport fresh as *spice-fraught gale. |
| 1647 Hexham i, A *spice seller, een specerye verkooper. |
| 1953 W. de la Mare O Lovely England 51 The *spice-sweet gorse. |
| 1890 P. H. Hunter After the Exile II. vi. 133 The goldsmiths and *spice-vendors voluntarily contracted for particular..portions of wall. |
| a 1847 Eliza Cook Sunshine iv. 3 The winter hours were long to him who had no *spice-warmed cup. |
8. Special
Combs.:
spice apple, a variety of the ordinary apple;
spice-berry N. Amer., winter-green (
Gaultheria procumbens);
spice-bush U.S., wild allspice, fever-bush (
Benzoin odoriferum); also, an aromatic Californian tree of the laurel family;
† spice-conscience (
attrib.),
-conscienced a., having a delicate or tender conscience;
spice-islands, the islands in the East from which spices were imported;
spice-isle, one of the spice-islands (
poet. rare);
spice-land, a country which produces spices (in
quots. fig.);
spice mill, a small hand-machine for grinding spices;
† spice mortar, a mortar used for braying or pounding spices in;
spice-nut, a gingerbread nut;
spice-tea U.S. (see
quot.);
spice-tree, a spice-bearing tree;
spice-wood, (
a)
U.S., the spice-bush; (
b) wood of spice-bearing shrubs.
| 1611 Cotgr., Espice,..the *Spice apple (whereof excellent Cyder is made). 1860 Hogg Fruit Man. 1 Aromatic Russet (Brown Spice,..Spice Apple). |
| 1792 G. Imlay Topogr. Descr. N. Amer. 216 There is a variety of shrubs in every part of the country, the principal of which are the myrtle and *spice berry. 1852 C. P. Traill Canadian Crusoes vi. 177 The little creeping wintergreen,..which the Canadians call spice-berry. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 404 The queen..is said to be the lovely, creeping snowberry.., although others give the prize to the spice-berry. |
| 1770 G. Washington Jrnl. 15 Oct. (1925) I. 409 The Soil..being as black as Coal and the Growth, Walnut, Cherry, *Spice Bushes. 1845–50 A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. 161 The Laurus benzoin, called Spice-bush, has scarlet berries, and is an aromatic plant. 1856 Bryant Fountain ii, There the spice-bush lifts Her leafy lances. 1866 Treas. Bot. 821/2 Oreodaphne californica is a common tree in the mountainous parts of California, where it goes by a variety of names, such as Mountain Laurel, Spice-bush, Balm of Heaven. |
| c 1613 Rowland Four Knaves (Percy Soc.) 97 Let *spice-conscience fellows talke their fill, Mine owne's mine owne. |
| 1600 Holland Livy vi. xxvii. 236 To chuse a third time they made a scruple, so *spice conscienced were they. |
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 69 ¶5 My Friend Sir Andrew calls..the *Spice-Islands our Hot-beds. 1776 Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad Introd. xxxiv. note, To find the spice islands of the East was his [Columbus's] proposal at the court of Spain. 1834 Coleridge Table Talk 10 July, Like breezes blown from spice-islands of Youth and Hope. 1890 Cassell's Pop. Educ. IV. 156/2 Malaysia..includes..Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Celebes, and the Moluccas or Spice Islands. |
| 1885 W. B. Yeats in Dublin Univ. Rev. Sept. 121 Where *spice-isles nestle on the star-trod seas. |
| 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 153 Those *spice-lands of character which we..must reach..by weary voyages. 1897 P. Warung Tales Old Régime 192 The honeyed sweetness of the spice-land. |
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6141, Pepper and *spice mills. |
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 195 That *spice mortar to sell it be you willyng? 1628 R. Norton Gunner 62 A Grocers or Apothecaryes spice Morter. |
| 1829 T. Hook Bank to Barnes 120 I passed a few minutes and a bad shilling in bargaining for some *spice-nuts. 1836–7 Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xii. 107 To induce you to purchase half a pound of the real spice nuts. |
| 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 395 *Spice-tea is..made from another laurel common at the South, the spice⁓bush. |
| 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 249 The laurel which bears it is, as well as *spice-trees, a plant of no great elevation. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. (1870) I. ii. 510 As though in some Arabian plain he stood, Anigh the border of a spice-tree wood. |
| 1756 P. Kalm Resa til N. Amer. II. 204 *Spicewood. (Laurus æstivalis. Spec. 370). 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 Spice Wood, Laurus. 1792 J. Belknap Hist. New-Hampsh. III. 97 The Spice-wood (Laurus Benzoin) or..Feverbush. a 1813 A. Wilson Amer. Blue Bird Poet. Wks. (Belfast ed.) 278 Spicewood and sassafras budding together. 1819 Keats Fall Hyperion i. 236 Many heaps Of other crisped spice-wood. 1846–50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 478 Benzoin odoriferum... Spice Wood. |
▪ II. spice, v. (
spaɪs)
Also 6
spise,
spyce.
[ad. OF. espicer (mod.F. épicer), f. espice spice n.; or directly from the n.] 1. a. trans. To prepare or season (food, etc.) with a spice or spices. Also allusively (
quot. 1821).
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 283 Shulde no curyous clothe comen on hys rugge, Ne no mete in his mouth þat maister Iohan spiced. 1570 Levins Manip. 114 To spice, condire. 1611 Bible Ezek. xxiv. 10 Consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burnt. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 912 It is spiced at pleasure with Ginger, Saffron [etc.]. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xx, ‘Fetch him wine,’..said the alchemist. ‘Aha! and thou wouldst spice it for me,..wouldst thou not?’ 1822 ― Nigel iii, She..spiced the toast with her own hands. 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 291 Anciently ambergris was much used for spicing wines. |
| transf. 1600 Deloney Strange Hist. Wks. (1912) 405 Yet his faire bodie was full sore infected, So ill they spiced both his fleshe and fishe. |
b. fig. To season, to affect the character or quality of, by means of some addition or modification;
usu. const. with. Also (
colloq.) with
up, to enliven, to make more interesting or racy.
| 1529 More Dyalogue iv. Wks. 257/2 One special thing, with which he spised al the poison. 1564 W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest (1888) 27 Me think your conscience is to much spiced with sodaine deuotion. 1634 W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. To Rdr., I have inserted many passages of mirth concerning them, to spice the rest of my more serious discourse. 1684 Bunyan Adv. to Sufferers Wks. 1885 II. 728 His holy harmless and profitable notions, because they are spiced with grace, yield to him comfort, joy, and peace. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 103 Hardship and hard work, spiced with the stimulants of wild adventure. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. xviii. vii, O, why should Love..Spice his fair banquet with the dust of death? 1891 Baring-Gould In Troubadour-Land iii. 39 The reader will think I have given him a dull chapter,..so I will..add an anecdote, to spice it. 1927 Scribner's Mag. Apr. 390/1 The brazen forgery in The Gentlemen's Magazine seems to have been a facetious attempt to spice up a sober-toned, political news-letter. 1979 Arizona Daily Star 8 Apr. (Wedding Suppl.) 15/2 One Tucson couple spiced up a wedding with circus performances, complete with a juggler and unicyclist. |
| absol. 1822 Scott Nigel xxvii, Mind to spice high with Latin. |
c. slang. To adulterate (soot).
| 1798 J. Middleton View Agric. M'sex 302 The chimney-sweepers who sell soot in London, mix with it ashes and earth, sifted very small and fine: this they term Spicing the soot. |
2. † a. To embalm, to preserve with spices.
Obs.| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 287 The body of this holy man spicede with mony spices was sende to his churche. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 160 Sumwhere also, they drye them, spyce them,..and so reuerently place them in certeyne tabernacles. 1598 W. Phillip tr. Linschoten 3/1 His body beeing seared and spiced was conuaied into his countrie of Alua. |
† b. To perfume with or as with spices.
| 1648 Herrick Hesper., Nupt. Song ii, Treading upon Vermilion And Amber; Spiceing the Chaf't-Aire with fumes of Paradise. |
c. Cant. To rob; to deprive
of by robbery.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., A rogue will say, I spiced the swell of so much, naming the booty obtained. |
d. To dose (a horse) with spice in order to mislead the buyer.
| 1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk I. vii. 111 [He] knew nothing of spicing a horse, or giving him a ball. |
† 3. In
pa. pple.: Slightly affected
with a physical disorder.
Obs.—1| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 382 From drunkennesse proceedeth trembling handes, spiced with the Palsie. |
† 4. intr. Of a bird: To mute.
Obs.—1| 1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin iii. 183 Dar'st thou presume (profane!) to spice i' th' Quire? |
Hence
ˈspicing vbl. n. (also with
up); also
spicing apple, a variety of apple (
cf. spice apple spice n. 8).
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. 72 The Kirkham Apple,..Cushion Apple, Spicing, May-flower. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 291 The Spicing Apple, of all Apples that are marked Red, is the meanest. 1844 M. Stuart O.T. Canon §viii. (1849) 185 The story..although mixed with a spicing of fable in all probability has some truth for its basis. 1896 Mrs. Caffyn Quaker Grandmother 133 Boredom sharpened by a spicing of mischief. 1934 C. Lambert Music Ho! ii. 127 There is no instance..of the spicing up of a simple harmonic basis. |