spurt n also spirt OED ~ sb1 1 b freq in 17th c; now dial (1591-), EDD 2 for sense 1; cp OED 2 for sense 2; cp Cent spurt1 n, spirt 4 'school of shad' Conn, PIERCE 118, 262 for sense 3; OED 2 e (1885) for sense 5.
1 An interval or short period of time.
1858 [LOWELL] i, 149 I couldn' rightly say, Pareson Wellon, how long it was, sir; not to say gezac'ly, sir; but it were a short spurt. 1862 Atlantic Mo ix , 370 An' so I set out, walkun this way, for a spurt, an' then t' other way. 1895 J A Folklore viii, 37 ~ meaning a short time. 'Excuse me for a spurt.' 'How long did you stay? 'A short spurt.' 1937 DEVINE 47 Spirt. Brief space of time. T 187-65 An' then there was another man belonged here one time but he shift up in [Burnt] Arm for a spurt.
2 A brief period of a certain kind of habitual activity; one's share with another of an activity; SPELL n.
1887 Colonist Christmas No 17 It is a fine day in August; the skiffs are on the fishing-ground, as usual. Many of their occupants are asleep, for the morning 'spurt' is over. 1907 DUNCAN 118 I 'low I'll stay ashore, the morrow,' says my uncle, 'an' have a spurt o' yarnin' along o' that there ol' bully.' 1937 DEVINE 47 ~ Very active work of short duration. 'A good spurt of fishing.' Q 67-106 [of the life of a Newfoundlander]: Spurt of work in summer. Spurt of religion in spring. Spurt of laziness in winter. C 71-90 Let me have a spurt [chopping wood]. C 71-99 [She] had a family of boys and when they had been making the fish on the flake, she would go down and give the men a spurt.
3 The sudden appearance or schooling of fish in inshore waters; a quantity of fish so appearing; a quantity of seals; RUN n.
1842 JUKES i, 226 [He] throws out his line again. When they get what they call a good spurt of fish, each person will sometimes be fully employed hauling in one line after another. 1882 TALBOT 24 [The] fishermen ... worked two lines, and sometimes three when a good spurt occurred. 1891 PACKARD 133 When I asked him what the people would do if the hunting and fishing continued to fall off, he replied hopefully, and in his fisherman's dialect, 'Oh, we'll have a spurt by and by.' 1906 GRENFELL 51 It was his greatest delight to be first on the fishing grounds, and he was ever the last to leave when a 'spurt o' fish' was running.
1924 ENGLAND 79 'Look like we'm handy to young fat,' said Kelloway. 'Look like de first spurt comin', 'treckly.' 1936 SMITH 20 By the time all this work was done it was the middle of July, and the skipper thought it too late to go back to Bluff Head, as he expected the spurt to be nearly over, so he decided to go down the shore. M 68-24 I had to wait for dark and the sunset spurt, and after jigging some two or three hundred squid, bring them ashore, clean out the punt, and start back the five miles to Elliston.
4 A brief interval of a certain kind of weather.
1870 HOWLEY MS Reminiscences 28 It seems to have set in for a spurt of very bad weather. 1902 Christmas Bells 2 Luckily a few days before Christmas the hard 'spurt' appeared to be over and the weather turned mild. [1918-19] GORDON 43 There is every indication of a mild spurt of weather. [c1945] TOBIN 26 "November Slips Away": This spurt isn't going to stay, / It's too early in the year / For winter to be settled here! T 175/7-65 If you struck a bad spurt o' weather that fish'd go bad quicker if 'twas in a big heavy lot, [than] 'twould in just a few fish together. 1978 Evening Telegram 29 July, p. 16 'Begar, Mr English,' sez I, 'now that we are gettin' a spurt of warm weather do you ever hanker after a dish of that grand ice cream they used to make up to Power's on the Middle Street.'
5 A frolic; TIME.
C 71-106 We had a fine spurt over to Tom's last night.
