Link Centre Dictionary

spit

US/spɪt/ common slang
verb (4) noun (4)

verb

1.

expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth

  • “The father of the victim spat at the alleged murderer”
Synonyms
2.

utter with anger or contempt

Synonyms
3.

rain gently

  • “It has only sprinkled, but the roads are slick”
Synonyms
4.

drive a skewer through

  • “skewer the meat for the BBQ”
Synonyms

noun

1.

a narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea

Synonyms
2.

a clear liquid secreted into the mouth by the salivary glands and mucous glands of the mouth; moistens the mouth and starts the digestion of starches

Synonyms
3.

a skewer for holding meat over a fire

4.

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • chew the meat and spit out the bones
  • chew up and spit out
  • cough and a spit
  • cuckoo spit
  • dummy spit
  • Equatorial spitting cobra
  • frog spit
  • not know whether to spit or go blind
  • spit and baling wire
  • spit and image
  • spit and polish
  • spit and vinegar

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.