here then are the results for speight, with comments and notes to follow:

a) a long handled gaff used in sport fishing [consuelo] etaoin, belMarduk

b) German mythological bird resembling a yellow-bellied sapsucker [AnnaStrophic]

c) a channel sewn into a corset to hold a whalebone (baleen) stiffening strip [Elizabeth Creith] Alex W, wofa

d) a bridge which requires payment of a toll at both ends. [musick]

e) to make clear or clarify; elucidate [Kelly123]

f) the green woodpecker (obs.) [OED2] ASp
The green woodpecker, Gecinus viridis. [Either repr. an unrecorded OE. *speht (*speoht), or a. MDu. or MLG. specht (Du. specht, WFris. specht, spjucht), = OS. speth (sic), OHG. speht (MHG. speht, speiht, G. specht): cf. Da. spætte, Norw. spetta, Sw. hackspett, and OF. espoit, espois (from Germanic). The ultimate affinities of the word are uncertain.] {there’s that WFris. again}

g) foul-mouthed [Bingley]

h) prediction, prophecy; augury, omen. (rare) [joe friday] Bingley, Elizabeth C, Kelly

i) a drying rack for turves [TEd Remington] Faldage, Marianna, themilum

j) a display window magic trick: An unhooked spigot is suspended from a height of about two feet by a single fishing line. Once turned on water rushes out from the spigot into a wash pan night and day for about a week. [themilum]

k) hardy wheat grown mostly in Europe for livestock feed [Marianna] Consuelo, A.

l) a collection, meeting, or assemblage, esp. one to elect a military officer from the ranks of enlisted men. (archaic) [Alex Williams] musick

m) (Scot.) late; lateness [wofahulicodoc]

n) a small wooden sluice for draining water from an overflow tank [Faldage] Ted, Jackie

o) a slew; a myriad; a vast quantity [WhitmanO'Neill]


NB:

• The startling bit is that there was a tie at the top (three votes ea.) between TEd R. and joe f. (breaking a long draught for joe); using the usual* tie-breaking procedures…
• a drying rack for *turves*??
• ASp voted for the woodpecker based seemingly on some odd bird association(?) to her submitted def’n. [but she was first (and onliest) to pick the correct def’n, thereby denying the hogmaster a sweep of top honors]
• I think Milo has lost his touch, or has lost touch, one.
• Excepting the birds [edit: and the waters], I don’t see any armils® (unless you count the more obvious relationship to the term spate, which didn’t get much play).

* arbitrary and capricious

-hogmaster ron

I picked up that word on a trip to Ireland, I think. When I biked throughout Ireland I saw many times the pyramid stacks of peat drying in the sun, and when we were there three years ago I took a little train tour of a place they harvested the peat to produce electricity. Massive operation covering hundreds if not thousands of acres. We got a chance to try our hands and backs at cutting peat using the special shovels the Irish developed for the purpose. But I think I heard turves during my first tour.

from the Online Etymology Dictionary

turf (n.)
O.E. turf, tyrf "slab of soil and grass," also "surface of grassland," from P.Gmc. *turb- (cf. O.N. torf, Dan. tørv, O.Fris. turf, O.H.G. zurba, Ger. Torf), from PIE base *drbh- (cf. Skt. darbhah "tuft of grass"). Fr. tourbe "turf" is a Gmc. loan-word. The O.E. plural was identical with the singluar, but in M.E. turves sometimes was used. Slang meaning "territory claimed by a gang" is attested from 1953 in Brooklyn, N.Y.; earlier it had a jive talk sense of "the street, the sidewalk" (1930s), which is attested in hobo use from 1899, and before that "the work and venue of a prostitute" (1860). The verb is attested from c.1430, originally "to cover (ground) with turf." Turf war is recorded from 1950s.

...obvious relationship to the term spate, which didn’t get much play

"Spät," pronounced shpate, is German for "late." No one took the bait, is all!

Quote:

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...obvious relationship to the term spate, which didn’t get much play

"Spät," pronounced shpate, is German for "late." No one took the bait, is all!

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How is lateness related to a spate [(a) : a large number or amount <a spate of books on gardening> (b) : a sudden or strong outburst]?