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swordfish, but having scales and ventral fins. It is found on the American coast and the Mediterranean.

turning a subject in the mind, and viewing it in its different aspects and relations; to meditate; to contemplate; to theorize; as, to speculate on questions in religion; to speculate on political events. It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most pefect quietude to the exte…

To hasten to a conclusion; to expedite. Judicial acts . . . are sped in open court at the instance of one or both of the parties. Ayliffe.

ous tale. -- To spin hay (Mil.), to twist it into ropes for convenient carriage on an expedition. -- To spin street yarn, to gad about gossiping. [Collog.]

een. Pope. There is a luxury in self-dispraise: And inward self-disparagement affords To meditative spleen a grateful feast. Wordsworth.

specially the varieties of the genus Spongia. The most valuable sponges are found in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and on the coasts of Florida and the West Indies.

n which debtors are put before being taken to jail, or until they compromise with their creditors. At these houses extortionate charges are commonly made for food, lodging, etc.

responsible; worthy of credit. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

p. of Spin. Spun hay, hay twisted into ropes for convenient carriage, as on a military expedition. -- Spun silk, a cheap article produced from floss, or short-fibered, broken, and waste silk, carded and spun, in distinction from the long filaments wound from the cocoon. It is often mixed with cotton. -- Spun yarn (Na…

To spur on one' horse; to travel with great expedition; to hasten; hence, to press forward in any pursuit. "Now spurs the lated traveler." Shak. The Parthians shall be there, And, spurring from the fight, confess their fear. Dryden. The roads leading to the capital were covered with multitudes of yeomen, spurring hard…

e. See under Nettle. -- Spurge olive, an evergreen shrub (Daphne oleoides) found in the Mediterranean region.

e, a bond of record acknowledged before the mayor of the staple, by virtue of which the creditor may, on nonpayment, forthwith have execution against the body, lands, and goods of the debtor, as in the statute merchant. It is now disused. Blackstone.

A lizard (Stellio vulgaris), common about the Eastern Mediterranean among ruins. In color it is olive-green, shaded with black, with small stellate spots. Called also hardim, and star lizard.

Public disturbance or commotion; tumultuous disorder; seditious uproar. Being advertised of some stirs raised by his unnatural sons in England. Sir J. Davies.

A violent agitation of human society; a civil, political, or domestic commotion; sedition, insurrection, or war; violent outbreak; clamor; tumult. I will stir up in England some black storm. Shak. Her sister Began to scold and raise up such a storm. Shak.

Hereditary character, quality, or disposition. Intemperance and lust breed diseases, which, propogated, spoil the strain of nation. Tillotson.

To exaggerate; to extend too far; as, to stretch the truth; to stretch one's credit. They take up, one day, the most violent and stretched prerogative. Burke.

Premeditated; planned; designed; as, a studied insult. "Studied magnificence." Hawthorne.

Mental occupation; absorbed or thoughtful attention; meditation; contemplation. Just men they seemed, and all their study bent To worship God aright, and know his works. Milton.

The substitution of one person in the place of another as a creditor, the new creditor succeeding to the rights of the former; the mode by which a third person who pays a creditor succeeds to his rights against the debtor. Bouvier. Burrill. Abbott.