spanspanspansspannedspanning2verb (spans, spanning, spanned)1to continue for a particular length of time: His career spanned more than 50 years.2to form a bridge over something: The river is spanned by a beautiful iron bridge.spanspanspans1noun1the length of time that something continues: We are looking at a time span of several months.2the length of something from one end to another: The bird's wingspan is 60cm.