<B>sponson, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a structure built out from the side of a vessel for support or protection, especially a platform for handling gear or an armored structure containing a turret and gun, such as was common on large naval vessels built in the late 1800's. <BR> <I>Ex. The new tugs will have a length of 145 ft. between perpendiculars and a beam of 58 ft. across the paddle sponsons (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a projecting structure to increase stability: <DD><B> a. </B>an air-filled compartment on either side of the hull of a canoe. <DD><B> b. </B>a short, winglike protuberance on either side of the hull of a seaplane. <DD><B> c. </B>a float on each side of the hull of a hydroplane (motorboat). </DL>
<A NAME="sponsor">
<B>sponsor, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person or group of persons responsible for a person or thing. <BR> <I>Ex. the sponsor of a law, the sponsor of a student applying for a scholarship.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who makes a formal promise or pledge on behalf of another; surety. <DD><B> 3. </B>a person who stands with the parents at an infant's baptism, agreeing to assist in the child's religious upbringing if necessary; godfather or godmother. <DD><B> 4. </B>a company, store, or other business firm that pays the costs of a radio or television program during which its products or services are advertised. <BR> <I>Ex. A television sponsor is shopping for a replacement for "My Favorite Husband" (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a person or group that arranges or promotes an organization, meeting, or the like. <DD><B> 6. </B>a person who pledges or gives a certain amount of financial assistance to an organization. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to act as sponsor for; be the sponsor of. <BR> <I>Ex. The local churches sponsor our scout troop.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sponsorial">
<B>sponsorial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a sponsor. </DL>
<A NAME="sponsorship">
<B>sponsorship, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the position and duties of a sponsor. </DL>
<A NAME="spontaneity">
<B>spontaneity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the quality, condition, or fact of being spontaneous. <BR> <I>Ex. [The] quartet was ... possessed more of expert workmanship than any great feeling of spontaneity (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a spontaneous action or movement on the part of a living organism, especially activity of physical organs in the absence of any external stimulus. </DL>
<A NAME="spontaneous">
<B>spontaneous, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>caused by natural impulse or desire; of one's own choice; not forced or compelled; not planned beforehand. <BR> <I>Ex. Both sides burst into spontaneous cheers at the skillful play.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>taking place without external cause or help; caused entirely by inner forces; of itself. <BR> <I>Ex. A pile of oily rags will sometimes break into a spontaneous flame. The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>growing or produced naturally without cultivation or labor; not planted or cultivated. <DD><I>adv. </I> in a spontaneous manner. adv. <B>spontaneously.</B> noun <B>spontaneousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="spontaneouscombustion">
<B>spontaneous combustion,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the act of a substance bursting into flame without anyone's setting it on fire. In spontaneous combustion, the heat produced by chemical action within the substance itself causes it to catch fire. </DL>
<A NAME="spontaneousemission">
<B>spontaneous emission,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Physics.) the release of excess energy in the form of light by an excited atom. <BR> <I>Ex. Light produced by the sun and by ordinary electric lights is the result of spontaneous emission caused by heat (James P. Gordon).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spontaneousgeneration">
<B>spontaneous generation,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the supposed production of living organisms from nonliving matter; abiogenesis; autogenesis. <BR> <I>Ex. worms from mud, maggots from decaying meat. ... This is the view that came to be called spontaneous generation (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spontoon">
<B>spontoon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a type of pike, having a short shaft, carried by officers, especially officers up to the rank of captain, in the British infantry from about 1740 until the early 1800's. </DL>
<A NAME="spoof">
<B>spoof, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a trick, joke, or hoax. <DD><B> 2. </B>a light satirical parody; take-off. <BR> <I>Ex. ... to the Imperial Theatre to see "Silk Stockings," a musical spoof of a Soviet woman commissar's trip to Paris (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to treat or offer as a spoof; make fun of; ridicule; joke; fool. <DD><B> 2. </B>to make a light satirical parody on. <BR> <I>Ex. The most successful part of the show is his spoofing of TV programs and commercials (Newsweek).</I> noun <B>spoofer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="spoofery">
<B>spoofery, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>cheating; deceit. <DD><B> 2. </B>the act of making fun (of); mockery; parody. </DL>
<A NAME="spook">
<B>spook, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>(Informal.) a ghost; specter. <BR> <I>Ex. There did I see a spook, sure enough--milk-white and moving round (E. G. Paige).</I> (SYN) wraith, apparition. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S. Slang.) <DD><B> a. </B>a spy. <DD><B> b. </B>a Negro (used in an unfriendly way). <DD><I>v.t. </I> (Informal.) <B>1. </B>to scare; frighten. <BR> <I>Ex. Lights on the water during night fishing are apt to spook the fish away (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to haunt (a person or place). <DD><I>v.i. </I> (Informal.) to become frightened. <BR> <I>Ex. He spooks at the slightest noise.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spookery">
<B>spookery, </B>noun, pl. <B>-eries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> that which is spooky or characteristic of spooks. </DL>
<A NAME="spookily">
<B>spookily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a spooky manner. <BR> <I>Ex. The owl hooted spookily from the dark woods.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spookiness">
<B>spookiness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality or condition of being spooky. <BR> <I>Ex. "All the spookiness began on the afternoon of Feb. 3," [she] said with a frown (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spookish">
<B>spookish, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>like a spook or ghost; ghostly. <DD><B> 2. </B>given over to spooks; haunted. <BR> <I>Ex. a spookish house.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>affected by a sense or fear of ghosts; suggestive of the presence or agency of spooks. <BR> <I>Ex. a spookish sensation.</I> adv. <B>spookishly.</B> noun <B>spookishness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="spooky">
<B>spooky, </B>adjective, <B>spookier,</B> <B>spookiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) like a spook; suited to spooks; suggesting spooks. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the view from the North Church belfry of the spooky and moonlit harbor (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spool">
<B>spool</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a small cylinder of wood or metal on which thread, wire, cord, tape, or yarn is wound; bobbin; quill; reel. <DD><B> 2. </B>something like a spool in shape or use. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to wind on a spool. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to wind spools. </DL>
<A NAME="spool">
<B>spool</B> (2) or <B>SPOOL, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a computer program that processes data to be fed into a computer or printed out from it by accumulating the data in a buffer. <BR> <I>Ex. SPOOL will "feed" your printer ... at a steady rate while your computer does other work at the same time (Byte).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spooler">
<B>spooler</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person or machine that winds something on a spool. </DL>
<A NAME="spooler">
<B>spooler</B> (2), noun. <B>=spool</B> (2).</DL>
<A NAME="spoolfurniture">
<B>spool furniture,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an American style of machine-made furniture especially popular during the 1800's, characterized by posts and supports carved in a series of knobs or spools. </DL>
<A NAME="spooling">
<B>spooling, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the process of temporarily storing data in a computer on a buffer for later processing by another part of the system. <BR> <I>Ex. Spooling was the first stage of multiprogramming as we know it today (Harry Katzan).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spoon">
<B>spoon, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a utensil consisting of a small, shallow bowl at the end of a handle. Spoons are used to take up or stir food or drink. <BR> <I>Ex. The captain loudly slurped hot soup from his spoon.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>something shaped like a spoon or the bowl of a spoon. <DD><B> 3. </B>a golf club with a wooden head, having a slightly shorter and more rigid shaft and a face with greater slope than a driver or brassie. <DD><B> 4. </B><B>=spoon bait.</B> <DD><B> 5. </B>a curved projection at the top of a torpedo tube to keep the torpedo going in a horizontal path. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to take up with or as if with a spoon. <BR> <I>Ex. She negligently spooned her soup, and then, after much parade, sent it away untouched (Benjamin Disraeli).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to hollow out or form in the shape of the bowl of a spoon. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal.) to make love to by hugging and kissing. <BR> <I>Ex. He's spooning our schoolmarm (Owen Wister).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to push (a croquet ball) with the mallet instead of hitting it. <DD><B> 5. </B>to hit (a golf ball) feebly with a lifting motion, as in a sand trap. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Cricket.) to hit (the ball) into the air weakly. <DD><B> 7. </B>to troll for or catch (fish) with a spoon bait. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to spoon a croquet, golf, or cricket ball. <DD><B> 2. </B>to fish or troll with a spoon bait. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal.) to make love by hugging and kissing. <BR><I>expr. <B>born with a silver spoon in one's mouth,</B> </I>born lucky or rich. </DL>
<A NAME="spoonback">
<B>spoon back,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the back of a chair slightly curved to fit the sitter's form. </DL>
<A NAME="spoonbait">
<B>spoon bait,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a bright, spoon-shaped piece of metal swiveled just in front of the hook or hooks, used as a lure in casting or trolling for fish. </DL>
<A NAME="spoonbeak">
<B>spoon beak,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a spoonlike beak, such as that of a spoonbill, used to gather shellfish and water insects from shallow waters. </DL>
