1
as in curse
a spoken word or set of words believed to have magic power
the witch cast a spell that turned the prince into a toad
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in bout
a sudden experiencing of a physical or mental disorder
a dizzy spell that caused me to fall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in while
an indefinite but usually short period of time
come rest a spell
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in to possess
to cast a spell on
it was as if he had spelled the public into believing his ridiculous claims
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to mean
to communicate or convey (as an idea) to the mind
that summertime combination of hot temperatures and equally hot tempers can spell trouble
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of spell
Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
The mayor pointed to his administration’s success in making 1,400 shelter placements over three weeks of the cold spell as evidence the new sweeps policy could be more effective than under prior administrations.
—Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 9 Feb. 2026
Freeman could play right field for Moniak against left-handers, or Castro could spell Moniak or Beck due to pitching matchups due to Castro’s switch-hitting capabilities.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 7 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for spell
Noun
Of the 35 managerial changes made in England’s top division in the past five seasons — not including caretaker spells, or those who took charge of under five matches — the numbers from Opta show an improvement in points per game over the next five matches in 77 per cent of cases.
—Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
The mayor pointed to his administration’s success in making 1,400 shelter placements over three weeks of the cold spell as evidence the new sweeps policy could be more effective than under prior administrations.
—Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
Verb
Allan’s resignation adds to the sense that the scandal surrounding the Mandelson appointment cannot be contained and could spell the end of Starmer’s premiership, just 19 months after Labour swept to power in a landslide election that gave it the largest majority in Parliament this century.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 9 Feb. 2026
Freeman could play right field for Moniak against left-handers, or Castro could spell Moniak or Beck due to pitching matchups due to Castro’s switch-hitting capabilities.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 7 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for spell
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spell
Noun
-
The tabloids go occult, explaining death after death through the logic of the Kennedy curse.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
-
We were drawn to the emotional weight of estranged siblings and the idea of a curse that’s passed down, not just through folklore, but through family trauma.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Gambon died in 2023 at age 82 following a bout of pneumonia.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Feb. 2026
-
The fight marks Strickland’s first bout since he was suspended from the UFC in July 2025 for attacking another fighter while working as a cornerman during an event.—
Jack Dunn,
Variety,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
This year’s scene saw Reddick fist-pumping through the delirium of his first Daytona 500 win in front of 150,000 fans on the frontstretch for a while.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
16 Feb. 2026
-
The fire is expected to burn for a while, firefighters say.—
Cecilio Padilla,
CBS News,
16 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
An assistant under Bradley and Cherundolo, Dos Santos’ first-choice tactics will be to possess the ball, counterpress and defend as far as possible from the LAFC goal, thus dominating games while attacking more through the inside with a 4-2-3-1 formation.—
Josh Gross,
Daily News,
17 Feb. 2026
-
And China already possesses the world’s-largest fleet of destroyers, frigates and surface combatants.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The case, along with two others, has been selected as a bellwether trial, meaning its outcome could affect how thousands of similar lawsuits play out.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
19 Feb. 2026
-
That means a large number of school-age children skipped their vaccinations in the same year that the measles outbreak in West Texas claimed the lives of two children who were not vaccinated against the disease.—
Lauren Mascarenhas,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The latest incantation of NVLink provides a scale-up fabric at 3.6 TB/s per GPU, supporting all-to-all collectives in network.—
Karl Freund,
Forbes.com,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Fireflies blipped and burned out, and the cicadas joined in an incantation that crescendoed into an ancient whirr.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Israel’s government has repeatedly criticized its counterpart in Australia for failing to address antisemitic attacks in the country.—
Chris Lau,
CNN Money,
21 Feb. 2026
-
At least 77 people were killed in various attacks in Kordofan due to drone warfare in February.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Mrigakshi is a science journalist who enjoys writing about space exploration, biology, and technological innovations.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
16 Feb. 2026
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The hotel’s outdoor lawn and event space has quickly become a hot wedding venue—nearly every weekend in the summer and fall was booked up.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spell. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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