spell (something) for (someone or something)

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spell (something) for (someone or something)

1. Literally, to write or recite the letters in a word or name to help someone learn or understand it. I usually have to spell my name out for people because it's so unusual. I'm not sure I've heard that term before. Could you spell it for me?
2. To indicate, contribute to, or display signs of some outcome or status for a person, group, organization, country, etc. The sudden shortage of precious metals necessary to manufacture the computer chips spelled disaster for the fledgling tech company. The government is hoping that a massive reinvestment in the city's infrastructure will spell success for its economy.
See also: for, spell
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

spell something for someone

to spell a word or name for someone's benefit. I don't recognize that word. Would you please spell it for me? It is a difficult name. I will have to spell it for you.
See also: for, spell
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in periodicals archive ?
Onstage spelling for the Scripps National Spelling Bee is set for May 28.
Thus teachers have the crucial responsibility, more than ever, to facilitate learning in a way that fosters independent spelling for different purposes and across a range of social and cultural contexts.
And around two thirds (65%) picked a wrong spelling for "necessary" from a list that did not include the right spelling.
This is not to deny the benefits of studying constructed homophony or any other kind of non-standard spelling for the morphological information it can and does retain.
Based on their findings, the authors discuss the importance of developing more comprehensive spelling measures and providing assessment data in spelling for students with learning disabilities using more than one test, similar to reading, to ensure proper identification.
adopted the -ium spelling for most of the 19th century; however, in 1892 Charles Martin Hall used the -um spelling in an advertising handbill for his new, efficient, electrolytic method for the production of aluminum.
learning opportunities in spelling should facilitate communication in writing and not correct spelling for the sake of doing so.
The distribution of scores on the spelling subtest revealed three independent developmental levels of invented spelling for the sample of kindergartners tested, namely, the higher level spellers, the midlevel spellers, and the low-level spellers.
But it has earned its place as a variant spelling, soon to overtake the original spelling for the beginning of a news article.
However, most students tried to sound out during spelling for irregular words too (e.g., wus for was, tol for tall).
When ABC canceled "Dynasty" in 1989, Spelling for the first time in more than 25 years had no presence in primetime.
The speller may simply choose the spelling for the phoneme that was produced first; that is, the fastest route would "win" and produce the spelling for the phoneme.
The spelling Calc, a slim electronic device, provides students with the correct spelling for more than 80,000 words and is full-functioning metric calculator.
Examination of his misspellings indicated that he used the CH spelling for all words, including those that required TCH.