springal

English

Noun

springal (plural springals)

1. (archaic) Alternative form of springald (“youth”)
   • 1623, John Webster, “Act II, scene i”, in The Duchess of Malfi‎^[1]:

     For, but for that, and the loose-bodied gown, / I should have discover’d apparently / The young springal cutting a caper in her belly.

2. Obsolete form of springald (“military engine for launching stones and arrows”).
   • 1980, Chris Cook, John Stevenson, Weapons of War

     Various ‘artillery’ machines were employed. These were similar to machines known in antiquity to Rome and Byzantium. One such machine, particularly useful against wooden castles and on ships, was the springal.

Anagrams

• Sparling, graplins, sparling