English

Alternative forms

• speil, spele, speal, spiel, spael

Verb

speel ‎(third-person singular simple present speels, present participle speeling, simple past and past participle speeled)

1. (dialect, Scottish and Northern English) To climb.
   • 1832 March 5, Memoirs of a Paisley Baillie, The Day: A Journal of Literature, Fine Arts, Fashions, &c., Glasgow, page 218,

     This I thocht at the time when he was speeling up the ladder before me in the Hie Kirk steeple ; but good breeding, at that particular time, keeped me from taking ony correck view of how things stood in that quarter.

   • 1841, Humorous Traits of an Old Highland Gentleman, Chambers′ Edinburgh Journal, Volume 9, Numbers 317-318, page 94,

     They were catched speeling up the lamp-posts and taking oot the cruizes and drinking the ulye, wick and a′.

   • 1860, Hugh MacDonald, Days at the Coast: A Series of Sketches Descriptive of the Firth of Clyde, Glasgow, page 255,

     There is a comfortable inn at this picturesque spot, where those who purpose speeling the lofty Ben generally prepare for their arduous undertaking.

2. To talk at length, to spiel.
   • 1972, Sven Berlin, Pride of the Peacock: The Evolution of an Artist, page 91,

     Old Saxon, who was so sweet and gentle despite his long years on the halls, smiled at me and suggested I should do some speeling. Yedo gave me a megaphone. I held it to my mouth but there was silence.

   • 1973, Irene Baird, Waste Heritage, Macmillan of Canada, page 262,

     “I must close now or I shall go on speeling all night. […] ”

3. (dialect, Australia) To run.

Noun

speel ‎(plural speels)

1. (dialect) A splinter; a strip of wood or metal.
2. (chiefly South Africa) A story; a spiel.

Afrikaans

Etymology

Dutch spelen

Verb

speel ‎(present speel, present participle spelende, past participle gespeel)

1. to play

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eːl

Verb

speel

1. first-person singular present indicative of spelen
2. imperative of spelen

Anagrams

• sleep, slepe, spele