SPAN

see: spin II. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English ~n; akin to Old High German ~na ~, Middle Dutch ~nen to stretch, hitch up Date: before 12th century the distance from the end of the thumb to the end of the little finger of a spread hand, an extent, stretch, reach, or spread between two limits: as, a limited space (as of time), the spread or extent between abutments or supports (as of a bridge), the maximum distance laterally from tip to tip of an airplane, III. transitive verb (~ned; ~ning) Date: 1560 1. to measure by or as if by the hand with fingers and thumb extended, measure , 2. to extend across , to form an arch over , to place or construct a ~ over, to be capable of expressing any element of under given operations , IV. noun Etymology: Dutch, from Middle Dutch, from ~nen to hitch up Date: 1769 a pair of animals (as mules) usually matched in appearance and action and driven together