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Glite Dictionary
🪵 A small plug 🛠️ A support stake
spile

spile

9.9
A small wooden plug used to close a hole in a barrel
  • noun
  • /spaɪl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : tapón

Examples

  • So if you could please put your spile inside and see what comes out.

  • It's a spile, used to tap into the maple tree for syrup.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Some gamesome whites will tell you that they have to plant weeds there; they don't grow naturally; that they import Canada thistles; that they have to send beyond seas for a spile to stop a leak in an oil cask; that pieces of wood in Nantucket.

    Academic text (1997)

  • To collect sap for syrup, he inserted a spile into the maple tree.

  • We used a spile to seal the hole in the barrel after filling it with wine.

  • The toolbox contained a spile that was perfect for repairing the beer keg.

Synonyms

bung
vsspile
6 9.0

A plug that seals the opening of a barrel or bottle

is a small wooden peg rather than a general stopper
spigot
vsspile
  • Archaic
1 8.5

A plug that stops liquid coming out of a wooden barrel

is a small wooden peg used for various barrel or flask holes
stopple
vsspile
  • Archaic
9.9

A small object that closes a bottle or hole tightly

is a small wooden peg used in barrels rather than any tight stopper

Surface Forms

spile singular
spiles plural

Etymology

The word spile comes from an old English word for a small 'peg', so imagine a tiny wooden plug you push into a barrel to stop the liquid, much like a little stake sealing a hole. That's why a spile means the wooden peg used to close a barrel.