spall

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: OF. espaule; cf. It. spalla. See Epaule.

The shoulder. obsolete Edmund Spenser

Origin: Prov. E. spall, spell. See Spale, Spell a splinter.

A chip or fragment, especially a chip of stone as struck off the block by the hammer, having at least one feather-edge.

1. Mining To break into small pieces, as ore, for the purpose of separating from rock. William Pryce

2. Masonry To reduce, as irregular blocks of stone, to an approximately level surface by hammering.

To give off spalls, or wedge-shaped chips; — said of stone, as when badly set, with the weight thrown too much on the outer surface.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54