spelder

Verb

spelder (third-person singular simple present spelders, present participle speldering, simple past and past participle speldered)

1. (Scotland) To split apart.
   • By St. Andrew ! were he within reach of my hand I could spelder him by one stroke of my axe, yea, spelder him as I would a haddock ! " he added, as another volley of shot and arrows whizzed and rattled on the rocks around them.1860, James Grant, Mary of Lorraine, page 407
   • Outside the kitchen window was a small patch of green, monopolised by various boards laid on rough trestles, which held rows and rows of saith, ling, and cod, all 'speldered' and drying in the sun.1930, William Chambers, Robert Chambers, Chambers's Journal, page 637
2. (Scotland) To spread out; to sprawl.
   • So there was he hingin' by a line an' speldering on the craig face, whaur its hieest and steighest.1893, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Tale of Tod Lapraik
   • The visitor, returning late across the eerie moor, sees a glow in the peat fire, reflected in the eyes of dogs speldered on the floor, and hears the purring of cats in cosy corners.1934, William Power, My Scotland, page 178
3. (Yorkshire, dialectal) To spell.
   • Gul. How do you spell it ? Mar. Nay, makins, I knaw nought o speldering — I'se nea scollard.1792, A Collection of the Most Esteemed Farces and Entertainments
   • I paid three wheyte shillins this varra last week, For paper-patch'd leets, that my scholars meeght see To spelder their words, and ply A B C.1840, Robert Anderson, Anderson's Cumberland ballads