spile

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

spile, n. [Cf. LG. spile, dial. G. speil, speiler, D. spijl. √170.].

•  A small plug or wooden pin, used to stop a vent, as in a cask.  [1913 Webster]
•  A small tube or spout inserted in a tree for conducting sap, as from a sugar maple.  [1913 Webster]
•  A large stake driven into the ground as a support for some superstructure; a pile.  [1913 Webster]

Spile hole, a small air hole in a cask; a vent.

spile, v. t. 

 To supply with a spile or a spigot; to make a small vent in, as a cask.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

spile, n. & v.
--n.
1 a wooden peg or spigot.
2 a large timber or pile for driving into the ground.
3 US a small spout for tapping the sap from a sugar-maple etc.
--v.tr. make a spike-hole in (a cask etc.) in order to draw off liquid.

Etymology

MDu., MLG, = wooden peg etc.: in sense 'pile' app. alt. of PILE(2)

THESAURUS

spile

bar, bind, block, block up, blockade, bung, caulk, check valve, chink, choke, choke off, choke up, clog, clog up, cock, congest, constipate, cork, cover, dam, dam up, faucet, fill, fill up, foul, jam, leg, lid, obstipate, obstruct, pack, pale, palisade, peg, picket, pile, pin, plug, plug up, sea cock, shank, spigot, spike, spill, stake, stanch, stay, stench, stop, stop up, stopgap, stopper, stopple, stuff, stuff up, tap, valve