- Spanned is defined as to have extended across or to have measured.
- An example of spanned is for a bridge to have reached across the bay from the city to an island; it spanned the bay.
- An example of spanned is for a bridge to be five miles long; it spanned five miles.
- simple past tense and past participle of span
Variant of span
- a unit of linear measure equal to nine inches, based on the distance between the tips of the extended thumb and little finger
- the full amount or extent between any two limits
- the distance between ends or supports: the span of an arch
- the full duration (of): span of attention, the span of a person's life
- a part between two supports: a bridge of four spans
Origin of spanborrowed in U.S. < Du span, in same sense a team of two animals used together
Origin of spanMiddle English spanne ; from Old English sponn, akin to German spanne ; from Indo-European an unverified form (s)pen(d)-, to pull, draw (from source spin, Classical Greek span, to pull) ; from base an unverified form spe-, to pull, extend
transitive verbspanned, spanning
- to measure, esp. by the hand with the thumb and little finger extended
- to encircle with the hand or hands, in or as in measuring
- to extend, stretch, reach, or pass over or across: the bridge that spans the river
- to furnish with something that extends or stretches over: to span an aisle with an arch
Origin of spanME spannen < OE spannan, join: see span