splutter
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsplʌtə/
ipa: /ˈsplʌtɚ/
ipa: [-ɾɚ]
rhymes: -ʌtə(ɹ)
Forms: form: splutters
form: spluttering
form: spluttered
form: spluttered
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: splutter
form: splutter
form: spluttered
form: splutter
form: splutterest
form: spluttered
form: splutteredst
form: splutters
form: spluttereth
form: spluttered
form: splutter
form: spluttered
form: splutter
form: spluttered
form: splutter
form: -
form: spluttering
form: spluttered
Etymology: The noun is imitative. The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: glosses: To forcefully emit (something), especially in small drops or particles; to sputter.
glosses: To soil or sprinkle (someone or something) with a substance, often a liquid; to bespatter, to spatter.
glosses: To direct angry words, criticism, insults, etc., at (someone or something).
examples: text: Alas, for the expectations of man! His hopes are like the fruits of that melancholy shore, where death appears to live and life to die. He biteth, and spluttereth forth the unsavoury and abominable deception.
ref: 1831 February 13, “The Dreamer. No. I.”, in The Monthly Repository and Review of Theology and General Literature, volume V (New Series), number LI, London: C[harles] Fox, […], published March 1831, →OCLC, page 180:
synonyms: sputter
glosses: Sometimes followed by out: to speak (words) hurriedly, and confusedly or unclearly.
examples: text: [H]e at once stepped into the stationer's shop, and requested to be served with a sheet of the best gilt-edged letter-paper, and a hard-nibbed pen which could be warranted not to splutter.
ref: 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Mr. Weller the Elder Delivers Some Critical Sentiments Respecting Literary Composition; and, Assisted by His Son Samuel, Pays a Small Instalment of Retaliation to the Account of the Reverend Gentleman with the Red Nose”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 341:
text: You see if my pen doesn't splutter, Polly, the moment I address Richard Paulette.
ref: 1863, [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “A Stolen Honeymoon”, in John Marchmont’s Legacy. […], 3rd edition, volume II, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 90:
text: The log on the fire spluttered and sent a cloud of sparks up the chimney, and shadows of the bell-ringers started up on the walls and disappeared in the intricacies of the roof.
ref: 1867, Joseph Hatton, “Ringing the New Year in”, in Mrs. Alfred Gatty [i.e., Margaret Gatty], editor, Aunt Judy’s May-Day Volume. For Young People. […], London: Bell & Daldy, […], →OCLC, page 157:
text: I grieve for lack of wit and store of words to tell the doings patly, for my pen halteth and spluttereth sadly; but I doubt if even a pen from a quill of the Raven could limn them suitably.
ref: 1887 January, “Football in 185–”, in The Downside Review, volume VI, Yeovil, Somerset: […] Western Chronicle Company, published 1889, →OCLC, page 23:
text: The old-fashioned pen spluttered and scratched as he wrote.
ref: 1951, Lloyd L[ouis] Brown, chapter 15, in Richard Yarborough, editor, Iron City […] (The Northeastern Library of Black Literature), Boston, Mass.: Northeastern University Press, published 1994, →ISBN, section 1, page 198:
synonyms: sputter
glosses: Of a thing: to forcefully emit something, especially in small drops or particles.
synonyms: sputter
sputter
glosses: Of a thing: to forcefully emit something, especially in small drops or particles.
To spray droplets of saliva from the mouth while eating or speaking.
examples: text: Suddenly a beautiful delf blue-and-white flower-pot, which had been set on the window-sill of an upper storey, fell to the ground with a crash, and the fragments spluttered up around my father's legs.
ref: 1848 April – 1849 October, E[dward] Bulwer-Lytton, chapter IV, in The Caxtons: A Family Picture, volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1849, →OCLC, part I, page 26:
glosses: Of a substance: to be emitted forcefully in small drops or particles.
examples: text: So you may see Jobson on such occasions, […] puffing, strutting, and spluttering, to get the justice put in motion, […]
ref: 1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 163:
glosses: To make a sound or sounds of something forcefully emitting a substance in small drops or particles.
glosses: Followed by out: to go out (as a flame) or stop functioning (as an engine or machine) with a spluttering action or sound (senses 2.1 or 2.3).
examples: text: If thou splutterest so, thou wilt drop out thy teeth; that is, if they be thine, which I for one doubt!
ref: 1853, John Wynne, “The Advocate of Durango; or, The Avenging Spirit. A Tale of Mexico. A Romantic, Domestic Drama, in Four Acts.”, in Three Original Plays, […], London: Thomas Bosworth […], →OCLC, act II, scene iii, page 204:
text: He was in such a rage that his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth. He could not even swear. He could only splutter.
ref: 1881, Walter Besant, James Rice, “How Will Would Not Be Crossed”, in The Chaplain of the Fleet […], volume III, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, part II (The Queen of the Wells), pages 163–164:
synonyms: sputter
glosses: To speak hurriedly, and confusedly or unclearly.
examples: text: Manchester City, Liverpool, Bolton and Manchester United come next for Wolves in the Premier League but [Mick] McCarthy's men will fear no one after beating Chelsea for the first time in 18 years, while [Carlo] Ancelotti has much to ponder as his players continue to splutter.
ref: 2011 January 5, Mark Ashenden, “Wolverhampton 1 – 0 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: To perform in an inconsistent manner to a substandard level.
Derived terms: word: splutterer
word: spluttering
word: splutteringly
word: spluttery