Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A lengthy or extravagant speech or argument usually intended to persuade.
  • intransitive & transitive verb To talk or say (something) at length or extravagantly.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A game; play; a curling-match.
  • noun Talk; a yarn; lingo; patter.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A lengthy and extravagant speech or argument usually intended to persuade.
  • noun A fast excuse or sales pitch.
  • verb To talk at length.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb replay (as a melody)
  • noun plausible glib talk (especially useful to a salesperson)
  • verb speak at great length (about something)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[German, play, or Yiddish shpil, both from Middle High German spil, from Old High German.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

The word has two possible etymologies:

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Examples

Comments

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  • verb, to reel off; recite : he solemnly spieled all he knew.

    April 8, 2007

  • German

    das Spiel (n.) - a game; backlash

    spielen (v.) - to play

    I had never seen this word in writing before, except in German class. Then, one day, trying to write about someone who had given a spiel, I looked it up and could not believe they were spelled exactly the same way. I will always feel odd using this word now.

    September 19, 2009