Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An old game in which one player threw a counter on the ground, and another tried to hit it with his counter, or to get so near to it that he could span the space between them and touch both the counters. In either case he won; if not, his counter remained where it fell, and became a mark for the first player, and so alternately till the game was won. The game was apparently similar to that of pitching pennies, and it was also called
span-farthing and span-feather.Halliwell.
Examples
“Again, the bishop wished me to marry the niece and heiress of the Dean of Lincoln; and my uncle, the alderman, proposed to me the only daughter of old Sloethorn, the great wine merchant, rich enough to play at span-counter with moidores, and make thread-papers of bank-notesand somehow I slipped my neck out of both nooses, and marriedpoorpoor Sophia Wellwood.”
“Go to, sirrah; tell the king from me, that, for his fathers sake, Henry the Fifth, in whose time boys went to span-counter for French crowns, I am content he shall reign; but Ill be protector over him.”
“In the outer court soldiers were playing at span-counter with silver moneys, which Gideon observing, again lifted up the voice of warning and rebuke.”
“Again, the bishop wished me to marry the niece and heiress of the Dean of Lincoln; and my uncle, the alderman, proposed to me the only daughter of old Sloethorn, the great wine-merchant, rich enough to play at span-counter with moidores and make thread-papers of bank-notes; and somehow I slipped my neck out of both nooses, and married — poor, poor Sophia Wellwood.”
“Again, the bishop wished me to marry the niece and heiress of the Dean of Lincoln; and my uncle, the alderman, proposed to me the only daughter of old Sloethorn, the great wine-merchant, rich enough to play at span-counter with moidores and make thread-papers of bank-notes; and somehow I slipped my neck out of both nooses, and married -- poor, poor Sophia Wellwood.”
“Go to, sirrah, tell the king from me, that, for his father's sake, Henry the Fifth, in whose time boys went to span-counter for French crowns, I am content he shall reign; but I'll be protector over him.”
“Go to, sirrah, tell the king from me, that, for his father’s sake, Henry the Fifth, in whose time boys went to span-counter for French crowns, I am content he shall reign; but I’ll be protector over him.”
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