SPAN

1. The word does not, even in architecture, always mean a part of a structure. It perhaps as often denotes the distance or space between two columns. Referring to a bridge, it may therefore designate the measure of the distance between the piers the space left open for navigation purposes.1 The act of Congress of July 25, 1866, § 10 of which authorized a bridge to be constructed over the Missouri river at Kansas City, required that the distance of one hundred and sixty feet between the piers should be obtained by measuring along a line between the piers drawn perpendicularly to their faces and the current of the river. Held, that as the length of such a line between the piers actually built measured seven feet less than the required distance, the bridge was not a lawful structure.¹ 2. Of horses, see HORSE.

imp. & p. p. of Spin.

The space from the thumb to the end of the little finger when extended; nine inches; eighth of a fathom. Hence, a small space or a brief portion of time. Yet not to earth's contracted span Thy goodness let me bound. Pope. Life's but a span; I'll every inch enjoy. Farquhar. The spread or extent of an arch between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between its supports. A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used. A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action. Span blocks (Naut.), blocks at the topmast and topgallant-mast heads, for the studding-sail halyards. -- Span counter, an old English child's game, in which one throws a counter on the ground, and another tries to hit it with his counter, or to get his counter so near it that he can span the space between them, and touch both the counters. Halliwell. "Henry V., in whose time boys went to span counter for French crowns." Shak. -- Span iron (Naut.), a special kind of harpoon, usually secured just below the gunwale of a whaleboat. -- Span roof, a common roof, having two slopes and one ridge, with eaves on both sides. Gwilt. -- Span shackle (Naut.), a large bolt driven through the forecastle deck, with a triangular shackle in the head to receive the heel of the old-fashioned fish davit. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object; as, to span a space or distance; to span a cylinder. My right hand hath spanned the heavens. Isa. xiviii. 13. To reach from one side of to the order; to stretch over as an arch. The rivers were spanned by arches of solid masonry. prescott. To fetter, as a horse; to hobble.

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The full width of an open hand from the end of the thumb to the end of the little finger used as an informal unit of length. | Any of various traditional units of length approximating this distance, especially the English handspan of 9 inches forming ⅛ fathom and equivalent to 22.86 cm. | A small space or a brief portion of time. | A portion of something by length; a subsequence. | The spread or extent of an arch or between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between supports. | The length of a cable, wire, rope, chain between two consecutive supports. | A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used. | A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action. | The space of all linear combinations of vectors within a set. | The time required to execute a parallel algorithm on an infinite number of processors, i.e. the shortest distance across a directed acyclic graph representing the computation steps. | wingspan of a plane or bird

To extend through the distance between or across. | To extend through (a time period). | To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object. | To generate an entire space by means of linear combinations. | To be matched, as horses. | To fetter, as a horse; to hobble.