spial

See also: spiął

English

Alternative forms

• spyale
• spiall

Etymology

Aphetic form of espial.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈspaɪəl/
• Rhymes: -aɪəl

Noun

spial (countable and uncountable, plural spials)

1. (obsolete) Espionage.
2. (obsolete) A spy.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     And priuie spials plast in all his way, / To weete what course he takes, and how he fares […]

   • 1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, (please specify the book or page number):

     [ Charles François Dumouriez ], roaming far out, obscure, as King's spial, or sitting sealed up, enchanted in Bastille […]

Anagrams

• ALIPs, Alsip, Lipas, lapis, lipas, pails