spit
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /spɪt/
rhymes: -ɪt
Forms: form: spits
form: spitting
form: spat
form: spat
form: spit
form: spit
Etymology: The verb is from Middle English spē̆ten, spete (“to spit (blood, phlegm, saliva, venom, etc.); of a fire: to emit sparks”), from Old English spǣtan (“to spit; to squirt”); or from Middle English spit, spitte, spitten (“to spit (blood, phlegm, saliva, venom, etc.); of a fire: to emit sparks”), from Old English spittan, spyttan (“to spit”), both from Proto-Germanic, from Proto-Indo-European *sp(y)ēw, *spyū, ultimately imitative; compare Middle English spitelen (“to spit out, expectorate”) and English spew. The English word is cognate with Danish spytte (“to spit”), North Frisian spütte, Norwegian spytte (“to spit”), Swedish spotta (“to spit”), Old Norse spýta (Faroese spýta (“to spit”), Icelandic spýta (“to spit”)).
The noun is derived from the verb; compare Danish spyt (“spit”), Middle English spit, spytte (“saliva, spittle, sputum”), spet (“saliva, spittle”), spē̆tel (“saliva, spittle”), North Frisian spiit.
Senses: examples: text: And they ſpit upon him [Jesus Christ], and tooke the reed, and ſmote him on the head.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 27:30:
text: Aquil[ina]. […] pray vvhat Beast vvill your VVorship pleaſe to be next? / Anto[nio]. Novv I'l be a Senator agen, and thy Lover little Nicky Nacky! [He ſits by her.] Ah toad, toad, toad, toad! ſpit in my Face a little, Nacky—ſpit in my Face prithee, ſpit in my Face, never ſo little: […]
ref: 1682, Thomas Otway, Venice Preserv’d, or, A Plot Discover’d. A Tragedy. […], London: […] Jos[eph] Hindmarsh […], →OCLC, Act III, scene [i], pages 26–27:
text: Yes there were times, I'm sure you knew/When I bit off more than I could chew/But through it all, when there was doubt/I ate it up and spit it out.
ref: 1969, “My Way”, Paul Anka (lyrics), Claude François (music)performed by Frank Sinatra:
text: When the mighty duststorm, silent and terrifying, first engulfed her, she thought she would choke. Spitting dust from her dry lips, she ran indoors to protect the children, and found them coughing.
ref: 1974, James A[lbert] Michener, “Drylands”, in Centennial, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN; Dial Press trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Dial Press, 2015, →ISBN, page 931:
text: At the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. Disgusted with himself at such cowardice, he spat a needle from his mouth, stepped back from the tree and listened. There were no sounds of any movement upstairs: no shouts, no sleepy grumbles, only a gentle tinkle from the decorations as the tree had recovered from the collision.
ref: 1994, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, page 25; republished London: Arrow Books, Random House Group, 1995, →ISBN, pages 39–40:
text: The 47-year-old had allegedly been spat at by a passenger at London Victoria who said he had the virus, although a subsequent police investigation concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone.
ref: 2020 October 21, “Network News: Belly Mujinga”, in Rail, page 11:
synonyms: expectorate
glosses: To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.
examples: text: a hot pan spitting droplets of fat
text: The wag zigzagged across the field, bumping over ruts in the soil and tangled grass as a stream of bullets followed them from the high-mounted railguns, spitting sparks from the metal sides of the wag.
ref: 2015 May, James Axler [pseudonym; Rik Hoskin], chapter 6, in Hell’s Maw (Outlanders; 73), Don Mills, Ont.: Gold Eagle Books, Worldwide Library, →ISBN, page 73:
glosses: To emit or expel in a manner similar to evacuating saliva from the mouth.
examples: text: "There! now, Strickland, I know all about what you intend to say, and therefore need not be told; but see, it spits with rain, 'tis late, Graham's turned in, let's below; […]
ref: 1830, Edward Lane, The Fugitives; Or, a Trip to Canada, page 485:
text: It had been "spitting" with rain for the last half-hour, and now it began to pour in good earnest.
ref: 1834 October, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “The Steam Excursion”, in Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume II, London: John Macrone, […], published 1836, →OCLC, page 310:
text: It spits snow this afternoon. Saw a flock of snowbirds on the Walden road. I see them so commonly when it is beginning to snow that I am inclined to regard them as a sign of a snow-storm.
ref: 1851 December 24, Henry David Thoreau, “December, 1851 (Æt[atis] 34)”, in Bradford Torrey, editor, The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, volumes III (September 16, 1851 – April 30, 1852), Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin and Company, published 1906, →OCLC, page 153:
text: Does it rain? — It's nobbut spitting a bit.
ref: 1897 June 19, Halifax Courier, quoted in 1903, Joseph Wright, English Dialect Dictionary, "spit"
glosses: To rain or snow slightly.
examples: text: "Why, you little emasculated Don Juan— You—" he spat an unmentionable name— "d'you think I'd fight one of your tin-soldier farces with you? Clear out!"
ref: 1915, Amélie Rives (Princess Troubetzkoy), chapter XXXIX, in Shadows of Flames: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Frederick A[bbott] Stokes Company, →OCLC, page 240:
text: "Gentleman? You?" he spat.
ref: 2004, Mark Gatiss, “The Mystery of the Two Geologists”, in The Vesuvius Club: A Bit of Fluff (A Lucifer Box Novel), New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, 2005, →ISBN, page 23:
glosses: To utter (something) violently.
glosses: To make a spitting sound, like an angry cat.
examples: text: A group of black guys were spitting rhymes in the corner, slapping hands and egging one another on.
ref: 2005, Giselle Zado Wasfie, So Fly, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Griffin, →ISBN:
text: Didn't matter if I was out there spittin' on the mic or breaking ankles on the court, the best feeling in the world was performing in front of thousands of fans who couldn't stop screaming my name.
ref: 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 19:
text: […] mutating into all-star line-ups of emcees spitting hot bars over familiar beats, then to a single crew spitting bars over familiar beats, then eventually to a single crew (or artist) spitting bars over unfamiliar beats.
ref: 2021, Jehnie I. Burns, Mixtape Nostalgia: Culture, Memory, and Representation, page 138:
topics: dancing
hip-hop
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To rap, to utter.
examples: text: He's spitting for sure.
glosses: (in the form spitting) To spit facts; to tell the truth.
Derived terms: chew-and-spit
chew the meat and spit out the bones
chew up and spit out
Equatorial spitting cobra
not know whether to spit or go blind
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