=Spruch-Sprecher= (_The_) or “sayer of sayings” to the archduke of Austria.--Sir W. Scott, _The Talisman_ (time, Richard I.). =Spuma´dor=, Prince Arthur’s horse. So called from the foam of its mouth, which indicated its fiery temper.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, ii. (1590). ⁂ In the _Mabinogion_, his favorite mare is called Llamrei (“the curveter”). =Spurs= (_The Battle of_), the battle of Guinnegate, in 1513, between Henry VIII. and the duc de Longueville. So called because the French used their spurs in flight more than their swords in fight. (See SPURS OF GOLD, etc.) =Squab= (_The Poet_). Dryden was so called by Lord Rochester. =Square= (_Mr._), a “philosopher,” in Fielding’s novel called _The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling_ (1749). =Squeers= (_Mr. Wackford_), of Dotheboy’s Hall, Yorkshire, a vulgar, conceited, ignorant schoolmaster, overbearing, grasping, and mean. He steals the boys’ pocket money, clothes his son in their best suits, half starves them, and teaches them next to nothing. Ultimately, he is transported for purloining a deed. _Mrs. Squeers_, wife of Mr. Wackford, a raw-boned, harsh, heartless virago, without one spark of womanly feeling for the boys put under her charge. _Miss Fanny Squeers_, daughter of the schoolmaster, “not tall like her mother, but short like her father. From the former she inherited a voice of hoarse quality, and from the latter a remarkable expression of the right eye.” Miss Fanny falls in love with Nicholas Nickleby, but hates him and spites him because he is insensible of the soft impeachment. _Master Wackford Squeers_, son of the schoolmaster, a spoilt boy, who was dressed in the best clothes of the scholars. He was over-bearing, self-willed, and passionate.--C. Dickens, _Nicholas Nickleby_ (1838). The person who suggested the character of Squeers was a Mr. Shaw, of Bowes. He married a Miss Laidman. The satire ruined the school, and was the death both of Mr. and Mrs. Shaw.--_Notes and Queries_, October 25, 1873. =Squeeze= (_Miss_), a pawnbroker’s daughter. Her father had early taught her that money is the “one thing needful,” and at death left her a moderate competence. She was so fully convinced of the value of money that she would never part with a farthing without an equivalent, and refused several offers, because she felt persuaded her suitors sought her money and not herself. Now she is old and ill-natured, marked with the small-pox, and neglected by every one.--Goldsmith, _A Citizen of the World_, xxviii. (1759). =Squint= (_Lawyer_), the great politician of society. He makes speeches for members of parliament, writes addresses, gives the history of every new play, and finds “seasonable thought” upon every possible subject.--Goldsmith, _A Citizen of the World_, xxix. (1759). =Squint-Eyed.= [Guercīno] Gian-Francesco Barbieri, the painter (1590-1666). =Squintum= (_Dr._), George Whitefield is so called by Foote in his farce entitled _The Minor_ (1614-1770).