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spile

1. A small plug or wooden pin, used to stop a vent, as in a cask.

2. A small tube or spout inserted in a tree for conducting sap, as from a sugar maple.

3. A large stake driven into the ground as a support for some superstructure; a pile. Spile hole, a small air hole in a cask; a vent.

Origin: Cf. LG. Spile, dial. G. Speil, speiler, D. Spijl. 170.