spit
pronunciation
How to pronounce spit in British English:
UK [spɪt]
How to pronounce spit in American English:
US [spɪt]
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- Noun:
- a narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea
- 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
- a skewer for holding meat over a fire
- the act of spitting (forcefully expelling saliva)
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- Verb:
- expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth
- utter with anger or contempt
- rain gently
- drive a skewer through
Word Origin
- spit
- spit: English has two words spit in current usage. Spit ‘eject saliva’ [OE] is one of a sizable group of English words beginning sp- which denote ‘ejecting or discharging liquid’. Others include spew [OE], spout [14], spurt [16], and sputter [16]. They all go back ultimately to an Indo- European base *spyēu-, *spyū-, etc, imitative of the sound of spitting, which also produced Latin spuere ‘spit’ (source of English cuspidor [18] and sputum [17]).The immediate source of spit itself was the prehistoric Germanic base *spit-, a variant of which, *spāt-, produced English spittle [15] (originally spattle, but changed through association with spit). Spit for roasting things on [OE] comes from a prehistoric Germanic *spituz, which also produced German spiess and Dutch spit.=> cuspidor, spew, spout, spurt, sputter, sputum
- spit (v.1)
- "expel saliva," Old English spittan (Anglian), spætan (West Saxon), transitive and intransitive, past tense *spytte, from Proto-Germanic *spitjan, from PIE *sp(y)eu-, of imitative origin (see spew (v.)). Not the usual Old English word for this; spætlan (see spittle) and spiwan are more common; all are from the same root. To spit as a gesture of contempt (especially at someone) is in Old English. Related: Spat; spitting.
- spit (n.1)
- "saliva," early 14c., from spit (v.1). Meaning "the very likeness" in modern use is attested from 1825 (as in spitting image, attested from 1887); compare French craché in same sense. Spit-curl (1831) was originally considered colloquial or vulgar. Military phrase spit and polish first recorded 1895.
- spit (n.2)
- "sharp-pointed rod for roasting meat," late Old English spitu "a spit," from Proto-Germanic *spituz (cognates: Middle Dutch and Dutch spit, Swedish spett (which perhaps is from Low German), Old High German spiz, German Spieß "roasting spit," German spitz "pointed"), from PIE *spei- "sharp point" (see spike (n.1)). This is also the source of the word meaning "sandy point" (1670s). Old French espois, Spanish espeto "spit" are Germanic loan-words. The verb meaning "to put on a spit" is recorded from c. 1200.
- spit (v.2)
- c. 1200, "put on a spit, thrust with a spit," from late Old English sputtian "to spit" (for cooking), from spit (n.2). Meaning "pierce with a weapon, transfix, impale" is from early 15c. Related: Spitted; spitting. Nares' Glossary has spit-frog "a small sword."
Example
- 1. Any food leftover , you would have to spit out .
- 2. Don : I don 't think I could spit that well .
- 3. Cats aren 't clean , they 're just covered with cat spit .
- 4. A pediatric nurse 's shoes may lack the shine , but they have the spit .
- 5. When people with lung tb cough , sneeze or spit , they propel the tb germs into the air .