spangle

noun

1. A small, flat piece of sparkling metallic or metal-like material with a hole which is sewn on to a garment, etc., for decoration; a sequin.

   “The other Knight was all in milke white, his attiring els, all cutte in starres, which made of cloath of silver, and silver spangles, each way seemed to cast many aspects.”

   “[…] I had coſt his Majeſty above a million and a half of Sprugs, (their greateſt Gold Coin, about the bigneſs of a Spangle;) and upon the whole, that it would be adviſeable in the Emperor to take the firſt fair Occaſion of diſmiſſing me.”

   “A tawdry scarf of yellow silk, trimmed with tinsel and spangles, which had seen as hard service, and boasted as honourable a transmission, was next flung over one shoulder, and fell across her person in the manner of a shoulder-belt or baldrick.”

   “His wardrobe was extensive—very extensive—not strictly classical perhaps, nor quite new, nor did it contain any one garment made precisely after the fashion of any age or time, but every thing was more or less spangled; and what can be prettier than spangles?”

   “"Miss Bart, if you can't sew those spangles on more regular I guess you'd better give the hat to Miss Kilroy." Lily looked down ruefully at her handiwork. The forewoman was right: the sewing on of the spangles was inexcusably bad. What made her so much more clumsy than usual?”

2. Any small sparkling object.

   “There they doe finde that godly aged Sire, / VVith ſnowy lockes adowne his ſhoulders ſhed, / As hoary froſt with ſpangles doth attire / The moſſy braunches of an Oke halfe ded.”

   “And all the ſhrubs, vvith ſparkling ſpangles, ſhevv / Like Morning-Sun-ſhine tinsilling the devv.”

3. Any small sparkling object.

   “There wanted good Refiners; for thoſe that tooke vpon them to haue skill this way, tooke vp the waſhings from the mountaines, and ſome moskered ſhining ſtones and ſpangles which the waters brought downe, flattering themſelues in their owne vaine conceits to haue been ſuppoſed what they were not, by the meanes of that ore, if it proued as their arts and iudgements expected.”

   “The surface texture [of galvanized metal] can also be controlled and, in particular, the classical spangle finish can be eliminated. The spangle finish of galvanized strip is quite unsuitable for certain applications, most particularly for organic liquid paint coating; it is practically impossible to paint a galvanized sheet with normal spangle in such a way that the pattern of the spangles is not apparent through the coat of paint.”

4. (figuratively)Any small sparkling object.

   “Thus in a Starry night fond children cry / For the rich ſpangles that adorn the Sky; / Which though they ſhine for ever fixed there, / With light and influence relieve us here.”

   “See round the Poles where keener ſpangles ſhine, / Where ſpices ſmoke beneath the burning Line, / (Earths wide extreams) her ſable flag diſplay'd; / And all the nations cover'd in her ſhade!”

   “[N]ight closed with a blue and cloudless sky, in which the thousand spangles that deck the firmament received double brilliancy from some slight touch of frost, although the paler planet, their mistress, was but in her first quarter.”

5. (broadly)A point of light; also (rare), a glitter, a sparkle.

   “Mariner, mariner, furl your sails, / For here are the blissful downs and dales, / And merrily, merrily carol the gales, / And the spangle dances in bight and bay, / And the rainbow forms and flies on the land / Over the islands free; […]”

6. (broadly)A speckle or spot, especially on the body of an animal.

   “In the male [mille fleur booted bantam] the general plumage color is red with the tip of each feather ending in a V-shaped, white spangle which is separated from the red portion of the feather by a black bar. […] The wing bows are also red, tipped with white spangles.”

   “The Golden-Spangled Hamburg has an attractive pattern, the plumage over the body being golden bay, each feather ending with an elongated, greenish-black spangle. […] The spangles of the wing coverts should form two distinct, parallel bars across the wings.”

   “In summer, mated female wasps deposit large numbers of eggs in the tissue on the underside of expanded oak leaves, inducing the formation of characteristic spangle galls. […] Spangle galls often occur in vast numbers, and cause spotting of the foliage, visible from above. However, infested trees are seldom if ever harmed.”

7. Any of a number of swallowtail butterflies (genus Papilio); specifically Papilio protenor.

   “The female is unusually beautiful with grayish-brown wings hemmed by velvet black, while the male, resembling the black-winged Long-tail Spangle (Onaga-ageha) [Papilio macilentus], has unique vermillion marks on the body, and gives out a unique fragrance from which comes its Japanese name.”

   “[page 25] Papilio protenor euprotenor Fruhstorfer, 1908 / The Spangle was mentioned from Bangladesh by Collins & Morris (1985); it is quite likely in the Srimangal forests since it occurs in the Khasi Hills at low levels. […] [page 26] Papilio elephenor Doubleday, 1845 / The Yellow-Crested Spangle was collected once at Cachar. It is a very rare butterfly.”

   “Spangle butterfly (Papilio protenor) photographed in Tokyo, Japan.”

   “Many species like Yellow-crested Spangle Papilio elephenor, Nevill's Windmill Atrophaneura nevilli were recorded from the area during earlier surveys, but we did not record these species till date.”

   “A male of the spangle, Papilio protenor (black swallowtail butterfly), feeding on the flowers of the bushkiller, Cayratia japonica.”

verb

1. (also, figuratively, transitive)To fix spangles or sparkling objects to (something); to bespangle.

   “What ſtars do ſpangle heauen with ſuch beautie, / As thoſe two eyes become that heauenly face?”

   “Chapadór, m. one that plateth ouer, or ſpangleth.”

   “This is Timons laſt, / Who ſtucke and ſpangled you with Flatteries, / Waſhes it off, and ſprinkles in your faces / Your reeking villany.”

   “[H]er Reign / With thouſand leſſer Lights dividual holds, / With thouſand thouſand Starres, that then appeer'd / Spangling the Hemiſphere: […]”

   “[T]he Cohort bright / Of watchful Cherubim; four faces each / Had, like a double Janus, all thir ſhape / Spangl'd with eyes more numerous then thoſe / Of Argus, […]”

2. (figuratively, transitive)To adorn or decorate (something).

   “It seems it is in fashion with you to sugar your papers with Carnation phrases, and spangle your speeches with new quodled words.”

   “On the morning of July 31, the mountain rose spangled in the summer sun 2,300 feet above Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli. Strapping on three oxygen tanks, the two men faced toward K2's last fastness.”

3. (intransitive)To flash, glitter, or sparkle.

   “The gifts are differing, being diverse; their administrations are differing, and the operations of them also are differing, though all those things are from that one and the self-same Spirit, working in every one severally as he pleases. All these things will spangle in the New Jerusalem, and carry their full breadth and sway as in the days of old.”

name

1. A surname.