A frolic, a carousal, usually associated with drinking. Hence spreeing means “going on a drunk.”
1834. He is not quarrelsome, however, even when he gets caught in what they call in the west, “a spree.”—Albert Pike, ‘Sketches,’ &c., p. 32 (Boston).
1834. [They] think as much of an Indian encounter as a city blood does of a “spree” with the watchman.—C. F. Hoffman, ‘A Winter in the Far West,’ ii. 74 (Lond., 1835).
1843. He magnanimously resolved to spree it with the quarter, and to leave the one hundred and twenty-five dollars an unbroken fortune to retire upon.—Yale Lit. Mag., viii. 356 (July). (Italics in the original.)
1845. In the “spree” one of my horses was shot with a ball in the knee; no bones were broken, and he was able to travel, but he was a long time very lame.—Joel Palmer, ‘Journal,’ pp. 32–3 (Cincinn., 1847).
1846. As we were nearly all green in the business of packing, and many of our animals were quite wild, we frequently had running and kicking “sprees,” scattering the contents of our packs over the prairie, and in some cases damaging and losing them.—Id., p. 123.
[In these two examples there is no allusion to drinking.]
1846. [He had] struck him with a fire-brand and burnt his body in several places during a drunken spree.—Rufus B. Sage, ‘Scenes in the Rocky Mountains,’ p. 73 (Phila.).
1864. You came into manhood with a cigar in your mouth and a reputation for “spreeing,” in both of which you apparently took a proud delight.—J. G. Holland, ‘Letters to the Joneses,’ p. 229.
1877. Tom Adams, who drove the brick-yard waggon, and whose sprees were mighty in length and magnitude.—John Habberton, ‘The Barton Experiment,’ p. 7 (N.Y.).
1878. We found another party of Pueblos on a general spree.—J. H. Beadle, ‘Western Wilds,’ p. 242.
1902. After a protracted spree Pole usually came home laden down with such peace-offerings to his family and conscience.—W. N. Harben, ‘Abner Daniel,’ p. 204.
