spelk
/spɛlk/
spelk noun: a splinter, usually of wood.
Noun
spelk (plural spelks)
Verb
spelk (third-person singular simple present spelks, present participle spelking, simple past and past participle spelked)
- To use a spelk in or on.
- A spelk is often a hazel of two or three years' growth. It is pointed at each end, and is three or four feet long, and is placed at right angles with the thatch to hold it down. Sometimes a bit of very neat work is displayed in the spelking of the thatch […]1884, Notes and Queries, page 193
Forms of spelk
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | spelks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | spelks |
| present participle | spelking |
| past participle | spelked |
| past | spelked |
Origin of spelk
From Middle English spelke, from Old English spilc, spelc (“a splint”), from Proto-West Germanic *spelku, from Proto-Germanic *spelkō, *spalkō, *spalkuz (“bast, splint”). Cognate with Old Norse spjalkir (“bars, rails”, plural).
From Middle English spelken, from Old English spelċan, from Proto-West Germanic *spalkijan, from Proto-Germanic *spalkijaną. Cognate with Old Norse spelkja.
Words that rhyme with spelk
Questions about spelk
- What does spelk mean?
- Spelk means a splinter, usually of wood.
- What part of speech is spelk?
- Spelk can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce spelk?
- Spelk is pronounced /spɛlk/.
- What is the plural of spelk?
- The plural of spelk is spelks.
Words near spelk in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: spelk (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spelk.wav.
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