spit

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Contents

English [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /ˈspɪt/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)

Etymology 1 [edit]

Old English spitu

Noun [edit]

spit (plural spits)

  1. A rod on which meat is grilled (UK English) or broiled (US English).
  2. A narrow, pointed, usually sandy peninsula.
Translations [edit]
a rod on which meat is grilled/broiled
a narrow, usually sandy peninsula

Verb [edit]

spit (third-person singular simple present spits, present participle spitting, simple past and past participle spitted)

  1. To impale on a spit.

Etymology 2 [edit]

From Old English spittan, from Proto-Indo-European *spyēw, *spyū [1], of imitiative origin (see spew)[2]

Verb [edit]

spit (third-person singular simple present spits, present participle spitting, simple past and past participle spat or spit (US))

  1. (intransitive, transitive) To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth.
    Don't spit on the street.
    The teacher told her to spit out her bubble gum.
    • 1994, Stephen Fry, The Hippopotamus Chapter 2
      At the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. Disgusted with himself at such cowardice, he spat a needle from his mouth, stepped back from the tree and listened. There were no sounds of any movement upstairs: no shouts, no sleepy grumbles, only a gentle tinkle from the decorations as the tree had recovered from the collision.
  2. (transitive) To utter violently.
  3. (transitive, slang, hip-hop) To utter.
    • 2005, Giselle Zado Wasfie, So Fly
      A group of black guys were spitting rhymes in the corner, slapping hands and egging one another on.
Usage notes [edit]
  • Spit as the past form is common only in the US, while spat is common everywhere.
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from spit (verb)
Translations [edit]
to evacuate saliva from the mouth

Noun [edit]

spit (countable and uncountable; plural spits)

  1. (uncountable) Saliva, especially when expectorated.
    There was spit all over the washbasin.
  2. (countable) An instance of spitting.
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from spit (noun)
Translations [edit]
saliva
an instance of spitting
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Anagrams [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Ayto, John, Dictionary of Word Origins, Arcade Publishing, New York, 1990
  2. ^ spew, Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper
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