spang

S1P3A1N1G2
/ˈspæŋ//ˈspeɪ̯ŋ//ˈspɛ̃ŋ/

noun

A shiny ornament or object; a spangle

Similar
bang
OriginMiddle English spang ← Middle Dutch spange ← Old English spang →
UncommonScrabble 8
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Meanings

spang1

nounspang (plural spangs)

plural spangs

  1. obsoleteA shiny ornament or object; a spangle

    With glittering spangs that did like starres appeare.

    1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 45
verbspang (third-person singular simple present spangs, present participle spanging, simple past and past participle spanged)

present singular third person spangs · participle present spanging · participle past spanged · past spanged

  1. To set with bright points: star or spangle.
  2. To hitch; fasten.

spang2

verbspang (third-person singular simple present spangs, present participle spanging, simple past and past participle spanged)

present singular third person spangs · participle present spanging · participle past spanged · past spanged

  1. intransitiveOf a flying object (such as a bullet), To strike or ricochet with a loud report.

    How clear, sweet, spanging the hammer blows!

    1918, Zane Grey, The U.P. Trail
    1 more example

    Occasional bullets buzzed in the air and spanged into tree trunks.

    1895 October, Stephen Crane, chapter XVIII, in The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 173
adverbspang (not comparable)
  1. datednot comparableSuddenly; slap, smack.

    And I didn't stop until I found myself spang in the middle of the Musée de Cluny, clutching the rack.

    1936, Djuna Barnes, Nightwood, Faber & Faber, published 2007, page 22

spang3

verbspang (third-person singular simple present spangs, present participle spanging, simple past and past participle spanged)

present singular third person spangs · participle present spanging · participle past spanged · past spanged

  1. ScotlandUKdialectalintransitiveTo leap; spring.

    a. 1758, Allan Ramsay, epistle to Robert Yarde But when they spang o'er reason's fence, / We smart for't at our own expense.

  2. ScotlandUKdialectaltransitiveTo cause to spring; set forcibly in motion; throw with violence.
nounspang (plural spangs)

plural spangs

  1. ScotlandA bound or spring; a leap.

    Set roast-beef and pudding on the opposite side o' the pit o' Tophet, and an Englishman will mak a spang at it—[…]

    1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter I, in Rob Roy. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 13

spang4

nounspang (plural spangs)

plural spangs

  1. ScotlandA span.

Spang5

proper nounSpang (plural Spangs)

plural Spangs

  1. A surname.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbleap, jerk, bang

Similar
bang
Broader
hitstrikeimpinge on
Also see
bang

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

spang · noun, verb

  1. Old Englishspang“buckle, clasp”
  2. Middle Dutchspange“buckle, clasp”
  3. Middle Englishspang“a small piece of ornamental metal; spangle; small ornament; a bowl or cup”
  4. Englishspang

From Middle English spang (“a small piece of ornamental metal; spangle; small ornament; a bowl or cup”), likely from Middle Dutch spange (“buckle, clasp”) or Old English spang (“buckle, clasp”).

More words from Middle English, Middle Dutch, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

spang · verb, adverb

Onomatopoeic.

Full word history & related roots →

spang · verb, noun

Uncertain. Cognate with Scots spang, and possibly related to English spank.

Full word history & related roots →

spang · noun

See span

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with spang

ganglangwangmustangyangchangsangANGslangrangkangdangstangfangsprangpangthangPyongyangnangLaingmangShenyangHoangmeringue
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

spang. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spang

MLA

“spang.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spang. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spang,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spang.

Source: spang on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.