spat
pronunciation
How to pronounce spat in British English:
UK [spæt]
How to pronounce spat in American English:
US [ spæt]
-
- Noun:
- a quarrel about petty points
- a cloth covering (a legging) that provides covering for the instep and ankles
- a young oyster or other bivalve
-
- Verb:
- come down like raindrops
- become permanently attached
- strike with a sound like that of falling rain
- clap one's hands or shout after performances to indicate approval
- engage in a brief and petty quarrel
- spawn
- clap one's hands together
Word Origin
- spat
- spat: English has three words spat (not counting the past form of spit). The oldest, ‘young of an oyster or similar shellfish’ [17], comes from Anglo-Norman spat, but the origins of that are unknown. Spat ‘shoe covering’ [19] is short for the earlier spatterdash [17]. This was a compound formed from spatter [16] (a word based ultimately on the sound of spattering) and dash (used here in the now archaic sense ‘splash violently’). Spat ‘tiff’ [19] originated in the USA, but its ancestry is not known.
- spat (n.1)
- "petty quarrel," 1804, American English, of unknown origin; perhaps somehow imitative (compare spat "smack, slap," attested from 1823).
- spat (n.2)
- "short gaiter covering the ankle" (usually only in plural, spats), 1779, shortening of spatterdash "long gaiter to keep trousers or stockings from being spattered with mud" (1680s), from spatter and dash (v.).
- spat (n.3)
- "spawn of a shellfish," especially "spawn of an oyster," also "a young oyster," 1660s, of unknown origin, perhaps from the past tense of spit (v.1).
Example
- 1. Take the spat over france 's expulsion of romanies .
- 2. The spat has also spilled over into sino-japanese military relations .
- 3. An open spat erupted two days ago over an unrelated incident .
- 4. It got into a spat with india over visas for kashmiri residents .
- 5. The spat in hanoi suggested that the pact has yet to materialise .