spell

spell [countable]

1 a piece of magic that someone does, or the special words or ceremonies used in doing it:

a magic spell

put a spell on somebody/cast a spell over somebody (=do a piece of magic to change someone)

The kiss of the prince broke the spell (=stopped the magic from working).

be under a spell

The whole town seemed to be under a spell.

2 a period of a particular kind of activity, weather, illness etc, usually a short period

brief/short spell

After a brief spell in the army, I returned to teaching.

spell of

a spell of bad luck

cold/wet/dry spell

Water the young plants carefully during dry spells.

a day of sunny spells and scattered showers

He began to suffer from dizzy spells.

3 a power that attracts, interests, and influences you very strongly

fall/come/be under a spell

I fell under the spell of her charm.

an ancient city that still casts its spell over travellers

4

 break the spell

to make someone stop paying all their attention to something, or to make a time stop feeling special:

He lay still, not wanting to break the spell.