spell

1. 1.

   a psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation

   Synonymsenchantmenttrance

   Broaderpsychological state

   Narrowerpossessionfascination
2. 2.

   a time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else)

   “it's my go”

   “a spell of work”

   Synonymsgotourturn

   Broadershift
3. 3.

   a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition

   “he was here for a little while”

   “I need to rest for a piece”

   “a spell of good weather”

   “a patch of bad weather”

   Synonymswhilepiecepatch

   Broadertime

   Narrowercold spellhot spellsnap
4. 4.

   a verbal formula believed to have magical force

   “he whispered a spell as he moved his hands”

   “inscribed around its base is a charm in Balinese”

   Synonymsmagic spellmagical spellcharm

   Broaderspeech

   Narrowerincantationhex

Other forms of spell

plural

spells·

past tense or participle

spelt

present participle

spelling·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about spell

What does spell mean?

spell means "orally recite the letters of or give the spelling of". That is the primary sense; the word has 10 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in spell?

spell has 1 syllable: spell. In IPA it is /ˈspɛl/.

What is another word for spell?

Close synonyms include spell out, import, write, enchantment, trance. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of spell?

The recorded antonyms are unspell.

Is spell a common word?

spell is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with spell?

3 words rhyme with spell. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.