Spiel

//ʃpiːl// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A lengthy and extravagant speech or argument usually intended to persuade. countable, uncountable

    "I'd love to be there with a real pretty spiel / But three little words can explain how I feel"

  2. 2
    A game of curling.

    "The portion of ice set apart for a curling spiel was called the lead, rank, or rink (by which last name it is still described), and as it was then shorter than it is now — its ordinary length being 30 yards"

  3. 3
    plausible glib talk (especially useful to a salesperson) wordnet
  4. 4
    An early form of rap music. countable, uncountable

    "Watt gets his turn on the mic too, delivering an amusingly disjointed rap (following Minutemen tradition, he calls it a spiel) on "Me & You, Remembering.""

Verb
  1. 1
    To talk at length. intransitive

    "For a second our eyes met and he gave me a contemptuous smile, then he spieled again."

  2. 2
    speak at great length (about something) wordnet
  3. 3
    To give a sales pitch; to promote by speaking. intransitive
  4. 4
    replay (as a melody) wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from German Spiel (“game, performance”) or Yiddish שפּיל (shpil), both from Middle High German spil, from Old High German spil, from Proto-West Germanic *spil. Cognate with Old English spilian (“to revel, play”). See speel.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Spiel (“game, performance”) or Yiddish שפּיל (shpil), both from Middle High German spil, from Old High German spil, from Proto-West Germanic *spil. Cognate with Old English spilian (“to revel, play”). See speel.

Etymology 3

From the Scots spiel (“game, play; curling match”) from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German spel.

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