English Explanatory Dictionary

spick-and-span

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Clean, spotless.

Pronunciation

En-au-spick-and-span.ogg

Word forms

spick-and-span more spick-and-span most spick-and-span spic and span spick and span

Etymology

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, English spoon, due to spoons once being made of wood) + nyr (“new”) (cognate to Old English nīewe, English new). Imitation of Dutch spiksplinternieuw (literally “spike-splinter new”), for a freshly built ship. Observe that fresh woodchips are firm and light (if from light wood), but decay and darken rapidly, hence the origin of the term.

Synonyms

clean clean as a bean clean as a hound's tooth clean as a new penny clean as a new pin clean as a whistle immaculate pristine spick-and-span spotless squeaky clean stainless unsoiled unsullied

Related words

spick
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