Word.ws English Dictionary

spalling

spalling is the present participle and gerund of spall.

Noun

spalling (countable and uncountable, plural spallings)

  1. The process of reducing (stone blocks, etc.) to an approximately level surface by hammering.
    • In the British-made Greek bricks the magma is not so evenly distributed, but after successive spallings the brick is converted bit by bit into the larger crystal formation […]1919, The British Clay Worker, volume 27, page xxxi
  2. Any process that spalls a surface, or the damage that results from that process: spallation.
    • He says: "If we'd left any cracks exposed then it could have resulted in spalling.2021 May 5, Paul Stephen, “Restoring the glory of Ribblehead”, in RAIL, number 930, page 39
  3. A fragment or chip of stone.
    • A third process fluid, water, is employed to cool the burner and to aid in the removal of spallings.1967, Mining Engineering, volume 19, page 136

Meaning of spall

Verb

spall (third-person singular simple present spalls, present participle spalling, simple past and past participle spalled)

  1. (ambitransitive) To break into fragments or small pieces.
    • Cobbed Ore is the ſpalled which is broke out of the ſolid large ſtones with ſledges1778, William Pryce, Mineralogia Cornubiensis: A Treatise on Minerals, Mines, and Mining […]
  2. (especially) To undergo weathering, aging, or other wear that involves the crumbling of the substrate.
    • When the bearing race spalled under high load, it led to the failure of the bearing.
  3. (transitive) To reduce, as irregular blocks of stone, to an approximately level surface by hammering.

See all 7 meanings of spall

Forms of spalling

pluralspallings

Questions about spalling

What does spalling mean?
Spalling means the process of reducing (stone blocks, etc.) to an approximately level surface by hammering.
What is spalling the present participle and gerund of?
Spalling is the present participle and gerund of spall.
What part of speech is spalling?
Spalling is a noun.
What is the plural of spalling?
The plural of spalling is spallings.

Words near spalling in the dictionary

  1. spallation
  2. spallations
  3. spalled
  4. spaller
  5. spallers
  6. spalling
  7. spallings
  8. spallogenic
  9. Spallone
  10. Spallones
  11. spalls

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spalling (page history and authors); spall (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “spalling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spalling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.