English Explanatory Dictionary

spit

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A thin metal or wooden rod on which meat is skewered for cooking, often over a fire.
  2. A generally low, narrow, pointed, usually sandy peninsula or bar.
verb
  1. To impale on a spit; to pierce with a sharp object.
  2. To use a spit to cook; to attend to food that is cooking on a spit.
verb
  1. To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.
  2. To emit or expel in a manner similar to evacuating saliva from the mouth.
  3. To rain or snow slightly.
  4. To utter (something) violently.
  5. To make a spitting sound, like an angry cat.
  6. To rap, to utter.
  7. (in the form spitting) To spit facts; to tell the truth.
noun
  1. Saliva, especially when expectorated.
  2. An instance of spitting; specifically, a light fall of rain or snow.
  3. Likeness; used, usually in set phrases (see spitting image) of a person who exactly resembles someone else.
  4. Synonym of slam (“card game”).
noun
  1. The depth to which the blade of a spade goes into the soil when it is used for digging; a layer of soil of the depth of a spade's blade.
  2. The amount of soil that a spade holds; a spadeful.
verb
  1. To dig (something) using a spade; also, to turn (the soil) using a plough.
  2. To plant (something) using a spade.
  3. To dig, to spade.
noun
  1. Abbreviation of spam over Internet telephony.

Pronunciation

/spɪt/ En-us-spit.ogg

Word forms

spit spits spitting spitted spat

Etymology

The noun is from Middle English spit, spite, spete, spette, spyte, spytte (“rod on which meat is cooked; rod used as a torture instrument; short spear; point of a spear; spine in the fin of a fish; pointed object; dagger symbol; land projecting into the sea”), from Old English spitu (“rod on which meat is cooked; spit”), from Proto-Germanic *spitō (“rod; skewer; spike”), *spituz (“rod on which meat is cooked; stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *speyd-, *spey- (“sharp; sharp stick”). The English word is cognate with Dutch spit, Low German Spitt (“pike, spear; spike; skewer; spit”), Danish spid, Swedish spett (“skewer; spit; type of crowbar”). The verb is derived from the noun, or from Middle English spiten (“to put on a spit; to impale”), from spit, spite: see above. The English verb is cognate with Middle Dutch speten, spitten (modern Dutch speten), Middle Low German speten (Low German spitten, modern German spießen (“to skewer, to spear”), spissen (now dialectal)) and Danish spidde.

Synonyms

broach expectorate expectoration spittle slam delve

Related words

skewer spit-spot

Derived words

sandspit spitbraai spit cake spit engine Spithead spit jack spit of land turnspit unspit spitless chew-and-spit chew the meat and spit out the bones chew up and spit out Equatorial spitting cobra misspit not know whether to spit or go blind outspit spit blood spit box spit bucket spit chips spit facts spit feathers spit fire spit in someone's face spit in the ocean spit in the wind spit into the wind spit it out spit nails spit on spit out spit-poison spit straight facts spit tacks spitter spit the dummy spitting chips spitting cobra spitting distance spitting image spitting spider spit up spit venom swap spit trust someone as far as one can spit trust someone as far as one could spit batspit bespit bullspit cough and a spit cuckoo spit dummy spit frog spit spit and baling wire spit and image spit and polish spit-and-sawdust spit and vinegar spitball
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