as in chip
a small flat piece separated from a whole
found a variety of uses for the spalls left over from their stonecutting operations
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Recent Examples of spall
The curtains are made up of overlapping, three-quarter inch plates of AR500 steel encased in a layer of ballistic nylon that captures spall, the shards of metal that break off from a colliding bullet.
—
Dan Robitzski, Popular Mechanics, 8 Mar. 2018
The reports noted that numerous repairs had been made to cracks and spalls in the spillway.
—Bettina Boxall, latimes.com, 24 Apr. 2017
Dan Robitzski, Popular Mechanics, 8 Mar. 2018
The reports noted that numerous repairs had been made to cracks and spalls in the spillway.
—Bettina Boxall, latimes.com, 24 Apr. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spall
Noun
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The purple hue is the result of the delamination of the phosphor-silicon layer in the streetlights' LED chips.—
Elizabeth Weise,
USA Today,
29 Mar. 2025
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There's also a USB-C charging port, fingerprint ID built into the power button, a flashlight, and an NFC chip for payments.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Ward shortened his drop and threw a strike in the small sliver of space just before the hash mark.—
Ted Nguyen,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
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In just about every single episode of CSI, techs wearing no protective equipment whatsoever stand in rooms lit like dive bars, feeding slivers of human tissue into machines that whir briefly and spit out a neat list of every foreign substance in the body.—
Samuel Ashworth,
The Atlantic,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
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In addition to the atlatl, the archaeologists also found a fragment of a boomerang, long wooden tips that might have been used to deliver poison to prey, and wooden darts and stone tips.—
Livia Albeck-Ripka,
New York Times,
4 Apr. 2025
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The fragments scattered themselves across the soft ground of Costa Rican jungle and grasslands, where they were subsequently found by meteorite hunters and volunteers.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
3 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The design is classic and functional, and it’s made from a weather-resistant and UV-resistant material that won’t rot, splinter, chip, or peel.—
Megan Schaltegger,
Better Homes & Gardens,
23 Mar. 2025
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Anyone who has suffered the indignity of a splinter, a blister, or a paper cut knows that small things can sometimes be hugely annoying.—
Nate Anderson,
Ars Technica,
22 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Halve the potatoes and top generously with feta, honey, and chile flakes or hot sauce.—
Scott Clark,
Saveur,
3 Apr. 2025
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Dandruff and dry scalp can cause flakes in the hair and itching, which may get worse in cold weather or during weather changes.—
Kelly Burch Published,
Verywell Health,
14 Mar. 2025
Noun
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During my own childhood, this crucial medical device was commonly available in only two forms: rectal, which involved a patient parent and a jar of Vaseline, and oral, which could only be used once your kid could be trusted not to bite down too hard and ingest glass shards and mercury.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2025
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For safety, clean up the shards now but spare yourself the emotional fallout.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
27 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spall.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spall. Accessed 12 Apr. 2025.
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