Crossword clues for spall
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Spall \Spall\, v. i. To give off spalls, or wedge-shaped chips; -- said of stone, as when badly set, with the weight thrown too much on the outer surface.
Spall \Spall\, n. [OF. espaule; cf. It. spalla. See Epaule.]
The shoulder. [Obs.]
--Spenser.
Spall \Spall\, n. [Prov. E. spall, spell. See Spale, Spell a splinter.] A chip or fragment, especially a chip of stone as struck off the block by the hammer, having at least one feather-edge.
Spall \Spall\, v. t.
(Mining) To break into small pieces, as ore, for the purpose of separating from rock.
--Pryce.(Masonry) To reduce, as irregular blocks of stone, to an approximately level surface by hammering.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"chip of stone," mid-15c., from Middle English verb spald "to split open."
Wiktionary
Etymology 1 alt. A splinter, fragment or chip, especially of stone. n. A splinter, fragment or chip, especially of stone. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To break into fragments or small pieces. 2 (context transitive English) To reduce, as irregular blocks of stone, to an approximately level surface by hammering. Etymology 2
n. (context obsolete rare English) The shoulder.
WordNet
n. a fragment broken off from the edge or face of stone or ore and having at least one thin edge; "a truck bearing a mound of blue spalls" [syn: spawl]
Wikipedia
Spall are flakes of a material that are broken off a larger solid body and can be produced by a variety of mechanisms, including as a result of projectile impact, corrosion, weathering, cavitation, or excessive rolling pressure (as in a ball bearing). Spalling and spallation both describe the process of surface failure in which spall is shed.
The terms spall and spalling have been adopted by particle physicists; in neutron scattering instruments, neutrons are generated by bombarding a uranium target with a stream of atoms. The neutrons that are ejected from the target are known as spall.
Usage examples of "spall".
A long piece fell away -- the burin spall -- leaving the blade with a strong, sharp, chisel tip.
Dahome, so I should propose for Midian, now spoiled and wasted by the Wild Man, a broken handmill of basalt upon a pile of spalled Negro quartz.
Meanwhile the caravan continued its course down the broad smooth Wady Ruways, on whose left side was a large atelier, with broken walls and spalled quartz of the Negro variety.
Yet about the tank we lit upon large scatters of spalled quartz, which, according to the Baliyy, is brought from the neighbouring mountains.
Around it lay the usual barbarous ruins, mere basements, surrounded by spalled stone: from this place I carried off a portable Kufic inscription.
Much of this work was spalled from bullets fired by high-spirited Red Guards during Cultural Revolution times.
One of the skeleton men picks up a long spoon and gives the mix a stir, then dips a cracked and spalled University of Michigan coffee mug into it and takes a long drink.
Interestingly, the spalled chunk recedes with the same energy the pellet originally imparted to the glass.
Her shields were still down and fireballs spalled her drive field like hellish strobes, but she wasnt even streaming atmosphere yet!
I had my feet solidly planted on the peak of the roof, I could see how the outer walls of the fortress had already been damaged, great irregular peelings of stone spalled away by the bombardment, like bark splintered from a tree.
When the explosions began in earnest, up above, some of the near-misses pelted her armor with bits of hard material spalled off the interior walls of the shelter.
Vredech took in the old tower with its stained and spalling rendering and its steeply pitched slate roof, dotted with spheres of moss.
I think if I could detach a large spall from the working edge of that adze Carlono was using, it would leave a smooth concave inner face, and make it much easier to use.
Around it lay the usual barbarous ruins, mere basements, surrounded by spalled stone: from this place I carried off a portable Kufic inscription.
Tiny spalls usually chipped off the edge with use, always leaving a sharp edge behind.