Definition of Spice

1. Noun. Aromatic substances of vegetable origin used as a preservative.

Generic synonyms: Preservative
Specialized synonyms: Stacte

2. Verb. Make more interesting or flavorful. "Spice up the evening by inviting a belly dancer"
Exact synonyms: Spice Up
Generic synonyms: Alter, Change, Modify
Specialized synonyms: Salt
Derivative terms: Spicery

3. Noun. Any of a variety of pungent aromatic vegetable substances used for flavoring food.

4. Verb. Add herbs or spices to.
Exact synonyms: Spice Up, Zest
Category relationships: Cookery, Cooking, Preparation
Generic synonyms: Flavor, Flavour, Season
Specialized synonyms: Ginger, Pepper
Derivative terms: Spicery, Zest

5. Noun. The property of being seasoned with spice and so highly flavored.
Exact synonyms: Spicery, Spiciness
Generic synonyms: Taste Property
Specialized synonyms: Bite, Pungency, Raciness, Sharpness, Nip, Piquance, Piquancy, Piquantness, Tang, Tanginess, Zest, Hotness, Pepperiness
Derivative terms: Spicy

Definition of Spice

1. n. Species; kind.

2. v. t. To season with spice, or as with spice; to mix aromatic or pungent substances with; to flavor; to season; as, to spice wine; to spice one's words with wit.

Definition of Spice

1. Noun. Plant matter (usually dried) used to season or flavour food. ¹

2. Noun. Any variety of spice. ¹

3. Noun. (context: uncountable Yorkshire) Sweets, candy. ¹

4. Verb. (transitive) To add spice or spices to. ¹

5. Noun. (context: nonce word) (plural of spouse) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Spice

1. to season with a spice (an aromatic vegetable substance) [v SPICED, SPICING, SPICES]

Medical Definition of Spice

1. 1. Species; kind. "The spices of penance ben three." (Chaucer) "Abstain you from all evil spice." (Wyclif (1. Thess,v. 22)) "Justice, although it be but one entire virtue, yet is described in two kinds of spices. The one is named justice distributive, the other is called commutative." (Sir T. Elyot) 2. A vegetable production of many kinds, fragrant or aromatic and pungent to the taste, as pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, allspice, ginger, cloves, etc, which are used in cookery and to flavor sauces, pickles, etc. "Hast thou aught in thy purse [bag] any hot spices?" (Piers Plowman) 3. Figuratively, that which enriches or alters the quality of a thing in a small degree, as spice alters the taste of food; that which gives zest or pungency; a slight flavoring; a relish; hence, a small quantity or admixture; a sprinkling; as, a spice of mischief. "So much of the will, with a spice of the willful." (Coleridge) Origin: OE. Spice, spece, spice, species, OF. Espice, espece, F. Epice spice, espece species, fr. L. Species particular sort or kind, a species, a sight, appearance, show, LL, spices, drugs, etc, of the same sort, fr. L. Specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Species. 1. To season with spice, or as with spice; to mix aromatic or pungent substances with; to flavor; to season; as, to spice wine; to spice one's words with wit. "She 'll receive thee, but will spice thy bread With flowery poisons." (Chapman) 2. To fill or impregnate with the odour of spices. "In the spiced Indian air, by night." (Shak) 3. To render nice or dainty; hence, to render scrupulous. "A spiced conscience." Origin: Spiced; Spicing. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Spice

sphæroidal
spial
spials
spic
spic-and-span
spic and span
spica
spica bandage
spicae
spicas
spicate
spicated
spiccato
spiccato bowing
spiccatos
spice (current term)
spice bush
spice cake
spice cookie
spice rack
spice tree
spice up
spiceberries
spiceberry
spicebush
spicebushes
spiced
spiceless
spicemill
spicenut

Literary usage of Spice

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Life-zone Indicators in California by Harvey Monroe Hall, Marcos Sastre, William Hamilton Gibson, Joseph Grinnell (1919)
"To the feminine entomologist the first introduction to the spice-bush caterpillar is usually quite as demoralizing. That blank, unwinking stare of the two ..."

2. A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from by Richard Chenevix Trench (1865)
"spice. We have in English a double adoption of the Latin ' species,' namely ' spice' and ... spice,' the earlier form in which we made the word our own, ..."

3. The Congo and Other Poems by Vachel Lindsay (1914)
"THE spice-TREE This is the song The spice-tree sings: "Hunger and fire, ... The spice-tree spreads And its boughs come down Shadowing village and farm and ..."

4. The Congo and Other Poems by Vachel Lindsay (1914)
"THE spice-TBEE This is the song The spice-tree sings: "Hunger and fire, Hunger and fire, Sky-born Beauty — spice of desire," Under the spice-tree Watch and ..."

5. Food Inspection and Analysis: For the Use of Public Analysts, Health by Albert Ernest Leach (1920)
"The tissues may be cleared by adding to the water mount a small drop of 5% sodium hydroxide, or by soaking a portion of the spice for a day in chloral ..."

6. The Apples of New York by Spencer Ambrose Beach, Nathaniel Ogden Booth, Orrin Morehouse Taylor (1905)
"BAILEY spice. REFERENCES, i. Лг. Y. Agr. Soc. Trans., 1849:350. a. ... BAILEY'S spice (i, 6, 9, 10). A dessert apple of medium size, light yellow ..."

7. Ceylon: A General Description of the Island, Historical, Physical by Horatio John Suckling (1876)
"The spice as known to him appears from his description to have been small sticks with the bark on.1 Cinnamon is not mentioned by Homer, ..."

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