Clean, spotless; original sense "like new".
Etymology:
- From spick-and-span-new, from spick + Middle English span-new, from Old Norse span-nyr, from spann + nyr. Imitation of Dutch spiksplinter nieuw , for a freshly built ship. Observe that fresh woodchips are firm and light, but decay and darken rapidly, hence the origin of the term.
- 19 Views
Submitted on July 07, 2010
Translation
Find a translation for the spick-and-span phrase in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to spick-and-span
sticks and stones may break my bones, b…sow the wind and reap the whirlwindstop an eight-day clock and throw it in…song and dancesticks and stonesSpare the Rod and Spoil the Childstop and smell the rosesstick that in your pipe and smoke itso-and-sosquad and blatherstraight and narrowspeak of the devil and he shall appearspeak of the devil and he appearsso on and so forth
How to pronounce this phrase?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this spick-and-span definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"spick-and-span." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/spick-and-span_15036>.
Powered by CITE.ME
Discuss this spick-and-span phrase with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In