Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- A channel off southern England between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. It connects with the Solent on the west and was formerly used as a rendezvous for the British fleet.
Etymologies
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Examples
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English Channel off the south coast of England, from which it is separated on the north by a channel, called Spithead in its eastern half, and the Solent in its western portion.
A Geography for Beginners. Kensey Johns 1864
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This place is called Spithead, and it forms one of the most famous anchoring grounds in the world.
Peter the Great Jacob Abbott 1841
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It is a fine, large maritime painting, as befits its provenance, signed and dated by Francis Swaine (1765), and carries the evocative title The Landing of the Sailor Prince at Spithead.
Serendipity 2009
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It is a fine, large maritime painting, as befits its provenance, signed and dated by Francis Swaine (1765), and carries the evocative title The Landing of the Sailor Prince at Spithead.
Archive 2009-08-01 2009
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He asked Home Office minister Lord West of Spithead: Do you think this situation would occur if Mr Wilders had said ban the Bible.
Anti-Islamist politician Geert Wilders refused entry to Britain 2009
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Back in June 2007, Mr Brown talked about a government of all the talents (hence the acronym) and looked outside politics for Baroness Vadera and Lords Jones of Birmingham, Malloch-Brown, Darzi of Denham and West of Spithead.
"The goats ... are breeding." Not a sheep 2009
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Mutiny in the Royal Navy at Spithead (April-May) and the Nore (May-June).
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The Royal George takes no more heed of us than its namesake under water at Spithead, or under earth at Windsor, does.
Reprinted Pieces 2007
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Spithead, which simulated the sense of being at sea by disguising the viewing platform as the afterdeck of a frigate (see Comment, 24). close window
Making Visible: The Diorama, the Double and the (Gothic) Subject 2005
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Note 76: Compare this food and water allowance with that of the Irish convicts who had been returned from Newfoundland to Spithead in 1789: 3½ lb. of bread, 2 lb. of flour, 3 lb. of pork, 3 pt. of peas, ½ lb. of butter, and 7 gal. of water each per week.
Gutenber-e Help Page 2005
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