Spell (Verb)
Meaning 1
Place under a spell.
Classification
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing.
Antonyms
Hypernyms
Related Words
Meaning 2
Relieve (someone) from work by taking a turn; "She spelled her husband at the wheel".
Classification
Verbs of political and social activities and events.
Examples
- She spelled her husband at the wheel so he could take a break and rest his eyes.
- He spelled his colleague at the cash register so she could go on her lunch break.
- The nurse spelled the doctor during the long surgery so he could step out and grab a cup of coffee.
- The new employee spelled the manager at the front desk so she could attend to some paperwork.
- The firefighter spelled his partner at the scene so he could go and get some medical attention for his injured hand.
Hypernyms
Meaning 3
Orally recite the letters of or give the spelling of; "How do you spell this word?"; "We had to spell out our names for the police officer".
Classification
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing.
Synonyms
Related Words
Meaning 4
Write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word); "He spelled the word wrong in this letter".
Classification
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing.
Examples
- She carefully spelled out the word to ensure it was correct.
- The teacher asked the student to spell the word on the blackboard.
- He spelled the word incorrectly on the application form.
- The child struggled to spell the long word on the worksheet.
- The student was asked to spell the word aloud to the class.
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Related Words
Meaning 5
Take turns working; "the workers spell every four hours".
Classification
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc..
Hypernyms
Meaning 6
Indicate or signify; "I'm afraid this spells trouble!".
Classification
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing.
Examples
- Her increasing recklessness spells disaster for her political career.
- His moodiness has always spelled relationship trouble, so beware of this!
- Rising poverty spells hardship for families, we have to donate now!
- When one crisis hits a vulnerable family, this always spells even more catastrophe!
- Higher debts could always spell big economic challenges to avoid, okay?