to outspan
- verb
- Archaic
- They stopped at noon to outspan the oxen and eat lunch under the trees.
Examples
-
You must always outspan the horses after a long journey to prevent fatigue.
-
The farmer outspanned the oxen to give them a break.
-
The travelers outspanned their mules beside the river for a brief rest.
-
They decided to outspan the horses after a long journey.
-
The travelers outspanned their mules beside the river for a brief rest.
-
They stopped at noon to outspan the oxen and eat lunch under the trees.
-
You must always outspan the horses after a long journey to prevent fatigue.
Synonyms
To take off something that is attached to another thing, like a trailer or bicycle
To take off the straps and gear that connect a horse or other working animal to a vehicle
To take the wooden bar off an animal that pulls a plow or cart
To remove the bar or strap that joins two animals so they can move apart
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
outspan = span (semi-transparent) = out + span
The structure out + span directly suggests 'remove from a span' (unharness), but the relevant sense of 'span' (a pair of draught animals or to be yoked) is regional/archaic and not familiar to many learners.
Etymology
Outspan comes from Afrikaans and Dutch where uit means 'out' and span means 'a team of working animals', so to outspan is to 'unharness' or 'take the yoke off' the animals so they can rest.