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σπάω , S.Ant.1003, Ar.Pax 498, etc.: fut. σπάσω [α^] Lyc.484, (δια-) Hdt.7.236, (ἐπι-) S.Aj.769: aor.
A.“ἔσπα^σα” Il.13.178 (tm.), Ep. “σπάσα” 5.859 (tm.), etc.: pf. “ἔσπα^κα” Arist.Pr.930a21, (ἀν-) Hp.Superf. 22, Ar.Ach.1069:—Med., fut. “σπάσομαι” Hp.Vict.2.38, etc.: aor. “ἐσπα^σάμην” Il.19.387, Hdt.3.29, Philostr.VA7.42, Ep. “σπασάμην” Od. 10.166, Ep. also σπάσσασθε, σπασσάμενος (v. infr.):—Pass., fut. “σπασθήσομαι” Gal.16.760, (δια-) X.An.4.8.10: aor. “ἐσπάσθην” Il.11.458, etc.: pf. “ἔσπασμαι” Hp.Morb.1.20, (δι-) Th.6.98, etc.; also in med. sense, X.An.7.4.16, Cyr.7.5.29. Mostly poet. (ἕλκω being preferred in Prose):—draw, hence,
I. of a sword, draw, mostly in Med., “φάσγανά τε σπάσσασθε” Od.22.74; “σπασσάμενος . . ἄορ παχέος παρὰ μηροῦ” Il.16.473; “ἐκ δ᾽ ἄρα σύριγγος . . ἐσπάσατ᾽ ἔγχος” 19.387; “σπασαμένων τὰς μαχαίρας” PTeb.48.19 (ii B.C.), cf. 138 (ii B.C.): in Act., “ξίφος σπάσαντα” E.Or.1194; “φάσγανον σπάσας χερί” Id.IT 322:—Pass., ἐσπασμένοι τὰ ξίφη having their swords drawn, X.An.7.4.16; “ἐσπασμένον ὃν εἶχεν ἀκινάκην” Id.Cyr.7.5.29; “ἐσπασμένοις τοῖς ξίφεσι” D.S. 4.52.
2. of other things, “ἐκ χειρὸς χεῖρα σπάσατο” Od.2.321; “σπασάμην ῥῶπάς τε λύγους τε” 10.166; ὡς ἕκαστος ἔσπασεν τύχης πάλον drew the lot (out of the helmet), A.Ag.333:—Pass., σπασθέντος (sc. ἔγχεος ἔξω χροός) Il.11.458.
3. abs., σπᾶτ᾽ ἀνδρείως pull, hoist away, like men, Ar.Pax 498.
II. of violent actions, pluck off or out, “κόμην” S.OT1243; “λάχνην” Id.Tr.690; cf. σπαστέος.
2. tear, rend, esp. of ravenous animals, S.Ant.258, 1003; λαιμοτόμους κεφαλάς dub. l. in E.IA776 (lyr.); ς. τοῖς ὄνυξιν [τοὺς νεοττούς], of the eagle, Arist.HA619b31:—Pass., φλέβιον, σάρκα σπασθῆναι, Hp.Morb. 1.17.
3. wrench, sprain, “τὸ σκέλος ἔσπασε” Plu.Arat.33:—Pass., “τὸν μηρὸν σπασθῆναι” Hdt.6.134; “τοὺς πόδας” E.Cyc.639.
4. snatch, tear or drag away, “πῶλον παρὰ συννόμων” Pl.Lg.666e; “ὑπὸ πτερῶν” E. Andr.441:—Pass., “ἔλαφον ἀπ᾽ ἐμῶν γονάτων σπασθεῖσαν” Id.Hec.92 (lyr.); ἐκ βραχίονος σπασθείς ib.408.
5. metaph., carry away, draw aside, “ἀλλά σ᾽ ἔσπασεν πειθώ” S.El.561; “τὰ πάθη οἷον νεῦρα ς. ἡμᾶς” Pl. Lg.644e.
6. Medic., cause convulsion or spasm, v.l. in Hp.Art. 67:—Pass., to be convulsed, “σπασθεὶς ἀποθνῄσκει” Id.Aph.5.5, Thphr. HP 4.4.13, etc.; ἐσπᾶτο γὰρ πέδονδε καὶ μετάρσιος, of Heracles in his agony, S.Tr.786, cf. σπάσμα, σπασμός: metaph., to be harassed, anxious, Arr.Epict.1.1.16.
III. draw in, suck in, “θρόμβον αἵματος” A. Ch.533; “ἔσπασεν ἄμυστιν ἑλκύσας” E. Cyc.417; συνεκθανεῖν σπῶντα χρὴ τῷ πώματι ib.571; “μεστὴν ἀκράτου Θηρίκλειον ἔσπασεν” Alex.5, cf. 285; opp. λάπτω, κάπτω, Plu. 2.699d, cf. “σπάσις” 11; ς. τὸν μαστόν suck it, Arist.HA587a33; “ς. ἀμυστί” Ael.NA6.51; and in Med., “ταυρείου σπασάμενος αἵματος” Apollod.1.9.27:—Pass., of the female, to be sucked, Arist.HA576b11 (τὸ ἄγαν σπᾶσθαι prob. l.); cf. “ἕλκω” A. 11.4.
2. ς. τὸ πνεῦμα draw breath, Id.Resp.473a2; “τὸν ἀέρα τὸν κοινόν” Men.531.7; absorb, “ἕκαστον τῶν τοῦ σώματος τὸ αὑτῷ οἰκεῖον ἐσπακέναι” Arist.Pr.930a21.
3. metaph., derive, τροφήν, of winds, Hp.Vict.2.38; “πειθώ τε καὶ εἵμερον ἔσπασε ἐκ . . ” drew, derived . ., IG14.889 (Sinuessa); ς. ἔρωτα enjoy it, Opp.H.4.270; ὀλίγον ὕπνου ς. snatch a little sleep, Hld.5.1:—Med., Id.2.16.
IV. draw tight, pull the reins, “χαλινῷ τὸ στόμα τοῦ ἵππου” X.Eq.9.7.1, cf. 9.5; but “τὸν χαλινὸν ἐκ τῶν ὀδόντων ἵππου” Pl.Phdr.254e.
2. of angling, “ἡ μήρινθος οὐδὲν ἔσπασεν” Ar. Th.928: hence prov., οὐκ ἔσπασεν ταύτῃ γε 'he took nothing by his motion', Id.V.175.
V. derive, “ἐπωνυμίαν παρά τινων” Philostr.VS2.10.6, cf. Ael.NA14.15 (Med.); ἀρχὴν λυρικῆς καὶ πέρας ς. AP9.184 (s. v.l.); ῥίζαν ς. τινός derive one's origin from . ., Lyc.623; “ς. τὴν κλῆσιν ἀπό τινος” S.E.M.1.46; “ἔννοιαν θεοῦ ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους φαντασιῶν” Epicur.Fr.353.
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

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  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (51):
    • Aeschylus, Libation Bearers, 533
    • Pseudo-Apollodorus, Library, 1.9.27
    • Aristophanes, Peace, 498
    • Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae, 928
    • Aristophanes, Wasps, 175
    • Euripides, Andromache, 441
    • Euripides, Cyclops, 639
    • Euripides, Cyclops, 417
    • Euripides, Cyclops, 571
    • Euripides, Hecuba, 92
    • Euripides, Hecuba, 408
    • Euripides, Iphigeneia in Aulis, 776
    • Euripides, Iphigeneia in Taurus, 322
    • Euripides, Orestes, 1194
    • Herodotus, Histories, 6.134
    • Herodotus, Histories, 7.236
    • Herodotus, Histories, 3.29
    • Homer, Iliad, 11.458
    • Homer, Iliad, 13.178
    • Homer, Iliad, 19.387
    • Homer, Iliad, 5.859
    • Homer, Odyssey, 10.166
    • Homer, Odyssey, 22.74
    • Homer, Odyssey, 2.321
    • Plato, Laws, 644e
    • Plato, Laws, 666e
    • Plato, Phaedrus, 254e
    • Sophocles, Ajax, 769
    • Sophocles, Antigone, 258
    • Sophocles, Antigone, 1003
    • Sophocles, Electra, 561
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 1243
    • Sophocles, Trachiniae, 786
    • Thucydides, Histories, 6.98
    • Xenophon, Anabasis, 4.8.10
    • Xenophon, Anabasis, 7.4.16
    • Xenophon, Cyropaedia, 7.5.29
    • Xenophon, On the Art of Horsemanship, 9.7.1
    • Xenophon, On the Art of Horsemanship, 9.5
    • Homer, Iliad, 16.473
    • Sophocles, Trachiniae, 690
    • Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 333
    • Aristophanes, Acharnians, 1069
    • Hippocrates, Aphorismi, 5.5
    • Hippocrates, De articulis, 67
    • Plutarch, Aratus, 33
    • Diodorus, Historical Library, 4.52
    • Aelian, De Natura Animalium, 14.15
    • Aelian, De Natura Animalium, 6.51
    • Philostratus the Athenian, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, 7.42
    • Philostratus the Athenian, Lives of the Sophists, 2.10.6
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