Dictation vs. Spell
Dictation and Spell Definitions
Dictation
The act or process of dictating material to another for transcription.
Spell
To name or write in order the letters constituting (a word).
Dictation
The material so dictated.
Spell
To constitute the letters of (a word)
These letters spell animal.
Dictation
An authoritative command or order.
Spell
To add up to; signify
Their unwise investment could spell financial ruin.
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Dictation
(uncountable) Dictating, the process of speaking for someone else to write down the words.
Since I learned shorthand, I can take dictation at eighty words a minute.
Spell
To name or write in order the letters of a word or words
I've never been able to spell very well.
Dictation
(countable) An activity in school where the teacher reads a passage aloud and the students write it down.
Spell
To put (someone) under a spell; bewitch.
Dictation
(countable) The act of ordering or commanding.
Spell
To relieve (someone) from work temporarily by taking a turn.
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Dictation
(uncountable) Orders given in an overbearing manner.
His habit, even with friends, was that of dictation.
Spell
To allow (someone) to rest a while.
Dictation
The act of dictating; the act or practice of prescribing; also that which is dictated.
It affords security against the dictation of laws.
Spell
To take turns working.
Dictation
The speaking to, or the giving orders to, in an overbearing manner; authoritative utterance; as, his habit, even with friends, was that of dictation.
Spell
(Australian) To rest for a time from an activity.
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Dictation
An authoritative direction or instruction to do something
Spell
A word or formula believed to have magic power.
Dictation
Speech intended for reproduction in writing
Spell
A bewitched state or trance
The sorcerer put the prince under a spell.
Dictation
Matter that has been dictated and transcribed; a dictated passage;
He mailed the dictation without bothering to read it
Spell
A compelling attraction; charm or fascination
The spell of the theater.
Spell
A short, indefinite period of time.
Spell
(Informal) A period of weather of a particular kind
A dry spell.
Spell
One's turn at work.
Spell
A period of work; a shift.
Spell
(Australian) A period of rest.
Spell
(Informal) A period of physical or mental disorder or distress
A dizzy spell.
Spell
(Informal) A short distance.
Spell
Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
He cast a spell to cure warts.
Spell
A magical effect or influence induced by an incantation or formula.
Under a spell
Spell
(obsolete) Speech, discourse.
Spell
A shift (of work); (rare) a set of workers responsible for a specific turn of labour.
Spell
(informal) A definite period (of work or other activity).
Spell
(colloquial) An indefinite period of time (usually with a qualifier); by extension, a relatively short distance.
Spell
A period of rest; time off.
Spell
A period of illness, or sudden interval of bad spirits, disease etc.
Spell
(cricket) An uninterrupted series of alternate overs bowled by a single bowler.
Spell
(dialectal) A splinter, usually of wood; a spelk.
Spell
The wooden bat in the game of trap ball, or knurr and spell.
Spell
To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm.
Spell
To read (something) as though letter by letter; to peruse slowly or with effort.
Spell
To write or say the letters that form a word or part of a word.
Spell
(intransitive) To be able to write or say the letters that form words.
I find it difficult to spell because I'm dyslexic.
Spell
(transitive) Of letters: to compose (a word).
The letters “a”, “n” and “d” spell “and”.
Spell
To clarify; to explain in detail.
Please spell it out for me.
Spell
(transitive) To indicate that (some event) will occur.
This spells trouble.
Spell
To constitute; to measure.
Spell
(obsolete) To speak, to declaim.
Spell
(obsolete) To tell; to relate; to teach.
Spell
(transitive) To work in place of (someone).
To spell the helmsman
Spell
(transitive) To rest (someone or something), to give someone or something a rest or break.
They spelled the horses and rested in the shade of some trees near a brook.
Spell
To rest from work for a time.
Spell
A spelk, or splinter.
Spell
The relief of one person by another in any piece of work or watching; also, a turn at work which is carried on by one person or gang relieving another; as, a spell at the pumps; a spell at the masthead.
A spell at the wheel is called a trick.
Spell
The time during which one person or gang works until relieved; hence, any relatively short period of time, whether a few hours, days, or weeks.
Nothing new has happened in this quarter, except the setting in of a severe spell of cold weather.
Spell
One of two or more persons or gangs who work by spells.
Their toil is so extreme that they can not endure it above four hours in a day, but are succeeded by spells.
Spell
A gratuitous helping forward of another's work; as, a logging spell.
Spell
A story; a tale.
Spell
A stanza, verse, or phrase supposed to be endowed with magical power; an incantation; hence, any charm.
Start not; her actions shall be holy asYou hear my spell is lawful.
Spell
To supply the place of for a time; to take the turn of, at work; to relieve; as, to spell the helmsman.
Spell
To tell; to relate; to teach.
Might I that legend find,By fairies spelt in mystic rhymes.
Spell
To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm.
He was much spelled with Eleanor Talbot.
Spell
To constitute; to measure.
The Saxon heptarchy, when seven kings put together did spell but one in effect.
Spell
To tell or name in their proper order letters of, as a word; to write or print in order the letters of, esp. the proper letters; to form, as words, by correct orthography.
The word "satire" ought to be spelled with i, and not with y.
Spell
To discover by characters or marks; to read with difficulty; - usually with out; as, to spell out the sense of an author; to spell out a verse in the Bible.
To spell out a God in the works of creation.
To sit spelling and observing divine justice upon every accident.
Spell
To form words with letters, esp. with the proper letters, either orally or in writing.
When what small knowledge was, in them did dwell,And he a god, who could but read or spell.
Spell
To study by noting characters; to gain knowledge or learn the meaning of anything, by study.
Where I may sit and rightly spellOf every star that heaven doth shew,And every herb that sips the dew.
Spell
A psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation
Spell
A time for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else);
It's my go
A spell of work
Spell
A period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition;
He was here for a little while
I need to rest for a piece
A spell of good weather
A patch of bad weather
Spell
A verbal formula believed to have magical force;
He whispered a spell as he moved his hands
Inscribed around its base is a charm in Balinese
Spell
Recite the letters of or give the spelling of;
How do you spell this word?
Spell
Indicate or signify;
I'm afraid this spells trouble!
Spell
Write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word);
He spelled the word wrong in this letter
Spell
Place under a spell
