n.
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form: spanned ; span · ning
Date: 1560
1 a : to measure by or as if by the hand with fingers and thumb extended b : MEASURE
2 a : to extend across <a career that spanned four decades> b : to form an arch over <a small bridge spanned the pond> c : to place or construct a span over
3 : to be capable of expressing any element of under given operations <a set of vectors that span s a vector space>