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SPICK AND SPAN definition: 1. (especially of a place) very clean and tidy: 2. (especially of a place) very clean and tidy…. Learn more.
The noun spick has various meanings, or rather it had various meanings, as it is now rarely used outside of spick and span. These meanings include: A side of bacon; A floret of lavender; A nail or spike; A thatching spar ; Likewise span has/had several meanings, including: The distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger
Aug 20, 2024 · The phrase spick and span means something is very clean, neat, or tidy. It often describes places like rooms or objects like clothes that have no dirt or mess. For example, if you clean your room so well that everything looks perfect, you could say your room is spick and span.
The meaning of SPICK-AND-SPAN is fresh, brand-new. How to use spick-and-span in a sentence.
Mar 28, 2022 · In fact, the full phrase actually is spick and span new—though unless you’re an etymologist, that may not shed any light on where the term actually came from.
From spick-and-span-new (literally “new as a recently made spike and chip of wood" ) (1570s), from spick (“nail" ) (variant of spike) + Middle English span-new (“very new" ) (from circa 1300 until 1800s), from Old Norse span-nyr, from spann (“chip" ) (cognate to Old English spón, Modern English spoon, due to old spoons being made of ...
Today, when someone says that something is spick-and-span, they usually mean that it’s very clean or neat. For example, you might say that a hotel room was spick-and-span if it had just been cleaned by housekeeping.
