spiffed outmod. nicely dressed up; decked
out. I like to get all spiffed out every now
and then. Wow, you look spiffed out!
Where are you going?
spiffed upmod. dressed up, brushed up,
and polished up nicely. See if you can
get yourself a little spiffed up before we get
to the front door. We wouldn’t want the
Wilmington-Thorpes to think you only
have one suit. The house doesn’t have
to be too spiffed up for the Franklins. They
are used to clutter.
spifflicated and spificated[“spIfl@ked@d
and “spIf@ked@d] mod. alcohol intoxi-
cated. Mrs. Wilmington-Thorpe drank
champagne until she was nearly spiff li-
cated. Being spificated on champagne
is not as bad as it sounds.
spiffy[“spIfi] mod. excellent. This is a
real spiffy place you’ve got here, Sam.
Come have a look at my spiffy new car.
Doesn’t look so spiffy to me.
spificatedGo to spifflicated.
spike 1. n. a hypodermic needle; a hypo-
dermic syringe and needle; a medicine
dropper and a needle. (Drugs.) The ad-
dict caught some strange disease from a
dirty spike. What’ll I do? I broke my
spike. 2. tv. to add ether or alcohol to
beer, originally by injecting it through
the cork with a hypodermic needle; to
add alcohol to a nonalcoholic drink.
(From prohibition times. See also
spiked.) He found a man who would
spike his beer for a small fee. He spiked
the beer with ether, which is a dangerous
thing to do. 3. tv. to puncture an idea.
I explained the plan, but the boss spiked
it immediately. I hate to see my ideas
spiked like that.
spiked 1. mod. having to do with a drink
with alcohol added; having to do with a
punch with an alcoholic content. Is the
punch spiked? I want some without. We
only have spiked punch. Bart’s breakfast
orange juice is usually spiked. 2. mod. al-
cohol or drug intoxicated. I knew that
Mrs. Wilmington-Thorpe was spiked when
she belched like a real country thunder-
boomer. Her old man was just as spiked,
and he made worse noises. 3. mod. hav-
ing to do with hair that stands up
straight. His spiked hair wouldn’t look
so bad if it wasn’t orange. Both orange
and spiked is too much. Is spiked hair
a fad or the way of the future?spillin. to confess. (Underworld.) The
cops tried to get her to spill, but she just sat
there. The gang was afraid she would
spill, but she’s a tough old thing.spill one’s guts on someoneGo to spill
one’s guts (to someone).spill one’s guts (to someone) and spill
one’s guts on someonetv. to tell all;
to confess; to pour one’s heart out to
someone. (See also spew one’s guts
(out).) I had to spill my guts to some-
one about the broken window.spill the beans and spill the workstv.
to give away a secret or a surprise.
There is a surprise party for Heidi on
Wednesday. Please don’t spill the beans.
Paul spilled the beans about Heidi’s party.spill the worksGo to spill the beans.spinachn. money. (Because it is green. See
also cabbage; lettuce.) How much
spinach you got on you? Look at this!
One hundred dollars in good old American
spinach!spin doctorn. someone who provides an
interpretation of news or an event in a
way that makes the news or event work
to the advantage of the entity employing
the spin doctor.(Usually in political con-
texts in reference to manipulating the
news.) Things were going bad for the
president, so he got himself a new spin doc-
tor. A good spin doctor could have made
the incident far less damaging.spinnern.a bullet. One shot sent a spin-
ner into Lefty’s gut. You can’t buy spin-
ners without a license in this state.spin one’s wheelstv. to waste time; to
remain in a neutral position, neither
advancing nor falling back. I’m just
spinning my wheels in this job. I need more
training to get ahead. The whole project
was just spinning its wheels until spring.spin one’s wheels