set a spell

present singular third person sets a spell · participle present setting a spell

1. USidiomaticcountrified dialectTo sit down for a period of time, especially in the company of other people and in order to relax or to engage in casual conversation.

   [S]he declined his invitation to "Come up and see the old woman and set a spell."

   1876, Louisa May Alcott, “The Romance of a Summer Day”, in Silver Pitchers: and Independence

   3 more examples

   "You might as well set down," remarked Miss Hitty, with a new gentleness of manner. "I'm going to set a spell."

   1906, Myrtle Reed, chapter 2, in A Spinner in the Sun

   Hank's Hardware is one of those quintessentially American places. . . . Hank's is a place where people can set a spell, but it is also a business, competing in the ever-tightening hardware marketplace.

   2000 January 30, Steve Strunsky, “New Jersey and Co.: Inside 'Big Box' Project, Threats to 'Little Boxes'”, in New York Times, retrieved 25 Jun 2011

   In this country community, we enjoy our neighbors as we never could before. There is time to set a spell and talk about the weather, family and days gone by.

   2005 November 24, Jean Parks, “Opinion: Retirement fulfills”, in USA Today, retrieved 25 Jun 2011

   Synonyms: visit a spell

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see set, a, spell.

   “Did the witch set a spell on you, too, Bodvar?”

   2006 May, Stobie Piel, Prince of Ice, New York, N.Y.: Love Spell, Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc., →ISBN, page 84