spell
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Words that are said to make magic happen; also, to say or write the letters of a word.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
spehlIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈspɛl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A verbal formula believed to have magical force
“He whispered a spell as he moved his hands.”
Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
A magical effect or influence induced by an incantation or formula.
A psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation
“The audience seemed to be under a spell as the storyteller spoke.”
A period of rest; time off.
The wooden bat in the game of trap ball, or knurr and spell.
verb
To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm.
intransitivetransitivesometimes with "out"
To write or say the letters that form a word or part of a word.
transitive
Of letters: to compose (a word).
Write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word)
“He spelled the word wrong in this letter.”
Indicate or signify
transitive
To indicate that (some event) will occur; typically followed by a single-word noun.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A verbal formula believed to have magical force
Used this way, spell is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“He whispered a spell as he moved his hands.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Verbal / wordsnoun
“He whispered a spell as he moved his hands.”
Write / lettersverb
“He spelled the word wrong in this letter.”
More ways to use spell
- “He whispered a spell as he moved his hands.”noun
- “He spelled the word wrong in this letter.”verb
- “She spelled her husband at the wheel.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Forming words with letters according to the principles underlying accepted usage.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A contest in which you are eliminated if you fail to spell a word correctly.
An electronic dictionary in a word processor that can be used to catch misspelled words.
A contest in which you are eliminated if you fail to spell a word correctly.
An electronic dictionary in a word processor that can be used to catch misspelled words.
Make explicit.
A spell of hot weather.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: verbal formula believed to have magical force
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.