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Span vs Height - What's the difference?

span | height |

As an adjective span

is hairless, glabrous.

As a noun height is

the distance from the base of something to the top.

span

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) spann

Noun

(en noun)
  • The space from the thumb to the end of the little finger when extended; nine inches; eighth of a fathom.
  • Hence, a small space or a brief portion of time.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Yet not to earth's contracted span / Thy goodness let me bound.
  • * Farquhar
  • Life's but a span ; I'll every inch enjoy.
  • * 2007 . Zerzan, John. Silence .
  • The unsilent present is a time of evaporating attention spans ,
  • The spread or extent of an arch or between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between supports.
  • The length of a cable, wire, rope, chain between two consecutive supports.
  • (nautical) A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used.
  • (obsolete) A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action.
  • (mathematics) the space of all linear combinations of something
  • Etymology 2

    Old English spannan

    Verb

    (spann)
  • To traverse the distance between.
  • The suspension bridge spanned the canyon as tenuously as one could imagine.
  • To cover or extend over an area or time period.
  • The parking lot spans three acres.
    The novel spans three centuries.
    World record! 5 GHz WiFi connection spans 189 miles. [http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/27/world-record-5ghz-wifi-connection-spans-189-miles/]
  • * Prescott
  • The rivers were spanned by arches of solid masonry.
  • To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object.
  • to span''' a space or distance; to '''span a cylinder
  • * Bible, Isa. xiviii. 13
  • My right hand hath spanned the heavens.
  • (mathematics) to generate an entire space by means of linear combinations
  • (intransitive, US, dated) To be matched, as horses.
  • To fetter, as a horse; to hobble.
  • Etymology 3

    Verb

    (head)
  • (archaic, nonstandard) (spin)
  • *
  • * '>citation
  • *:a giant pick-up truck span out of control during a stunt show in a Dutch town, killing three people
  • height

    English

    Alternative forms

    * highth * heighth

    Noun

  • The distance from the base of something to the top.
  • * Robert Frost
  • Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.}}
  • The vertical distance from the ground to the highest part of a standing person or animal (withers in the case of a horse).
  • The highest point or maximum degree.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 29, author=Neil Johnston, title=Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn
  • , work=BBC Sport citation , passage=If City never quite reached the heights of their 6-1 demolition of United, then Roberto Mancini's side should still have had this game safe long before Johnson restored their two-goal advantage.}}
  • (Sussex) An area of land at the top of a cliff.
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * (l)

    Antonyms

    * depth