spelch

From Middle English spelc, or spilc (“little rod by which things are kept straight or a splint for binding up broken bones”), ultimately from Old Norse spelkur (“splints”).

• Rhymes: -ɛltʃ

spelch (third-person singular simple present spelches, present participle spelching, simple past and past participle spelched)

1. (intransitive) To splinter while being crosscut.

   Spelching can be avoided by cutting in from the outside face where possible.

• chelps, schlep