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Sprightly; dashing. [Obs.] "Now, my spruce companions." Shak. He is so spruce that he can never be genteel. Tatler.

To fall plump; to strike at one dash, or with a heavy stroke. [Obs.]

To burst in pieces by striking against something; to dash into fragments. Like a vessel of glass she stove and sank. Longfellow.

To dash down; to beat. [Prov. Eng.]

To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a force to; to dash; to cast. They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two sideposts. Ex. xii. 7. Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow. Byron.

A mark or dash in writing or printing; a line; the touch of a pen or pencil; as, an up stroke; a firm stroke. O, lasting as those colors may they shine, Free as thy stroke, yet faultless as thy line. Pope.

To dash or flow noisily, as water; to splash; as, water swashing on a shallow place.

A showy, dashing person; a dandy. [Slang] Ground swell. See under Ground. -- Organ swell (Mus.), a certain number of pipes inclosed in a box, the uncovering of which by means of a pedal produces increased sound. -- Swell shark (Zoöl.), a small shark (Scyllium ventricosum) of the west coast of North America, which tak…

To dash; to swash.

A small quantity intermixed; a little; a dash. Eyes La touch of Sir Peter Lely in them. Hazlitt. Madam, I have a touch of your condition. Shak.

of breath, upbore Even to the seat of God. Milton. A monstrous wave upbore The chief, and dashed him on the craggy shore. Pope.

To cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten; hence, to overflow or dash against; as, waves wash the shore. Fresh-blown roses washed with dew. Milton. [The landscape] washed with a cold, gray mist. Longfellow.

To cut, as clay, into wedgelike masses, and work by dashing together, in order to expel air bubbles, etc. Tomlinson.

The ruins of a ship stranded; a ship dashed against rocks or land, and broken, or otherwise rendered useless, by violence and fracture; as, they burned the wreck.