spelt
part of speech
verb, past tense and past participle of «spell» (UK, Australia, NZ, Ireland; US usually «spelled»); noun (spelt — a kind of wheat, uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) Wrote or said the letters of a word in the right order. tree →
2) Was the letters of a word, as in «c-a-t spelt cat». tree →
3) (informal) Meant or caused, as in «the rain spelt trouble for the picnic». tree →
4) A kind of old wheat grain used to make flour and bread. tree →
sense in the lessons
In English lessons and spelling tests pupils are asked how a word is spelt. «Spelt» is the usual British form; American English mostly uses «spelled». In cooking, spelt flour is used in some breads. «Spelt out» means explained very clearly. Phrases: «spelt wrong», «spelt correctly», «spelt out», «spelt disaster», «spelt flour».
examples
- I spelt «necessary» wrong in my spelling test. tree →
- How is your name spelt? tree →
- The teacher spelt out the rules very clearly. tree →
- The dark clouds spelt trouble for the sports day. tree →
- Is «colour» spelt with a «u» in Australia? Yes. tree →
- Dad bakes bread with spelt flour. tree →
- She spelt every word correctly and got full marks. tree →
- The letters on the fridge spelt «HELLO». tree →
- Why, the words are spelt differently, and mean quite different things. tree →
note
Both «spelt» and «spelled» are correct; British, Irish, Australian and NZ writers often use «spelt», Americans «spelled». As a grain, «spelt» is uncountable. A pupil should keep one form in a piece of writing.
In the corpora
- He spelt «because» three different ways on one page and wrote «Wednesday» as «Wensday».
- But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten; for they ripen late. —
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «spelt» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.