spout

[ spout ]
See synonyms for spout on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to emit or discharge forcibly (a liquid, granulated substance, etc.) in a stream or jet.

  2. Informal. to state or declaim volubly or in an oratorical manner: He spouted his theories on foreign policy for the better part of the night.

verb (used without object)
  1. to discharge, as a liquid, in a jet or continuous stream.

  2. to issue forth with force, as liquid or other material through a narrow orifice.

  1. Informal. to talk or speak at some length or in an oratorical manner.

noun
  1. a pipe, tube, or liplike projection through or by which a liquid is discharged, poured, or conveyed.

  2. a trough or shoot for discharging or conveying grain, flour, etc.

  1. a continuous stream of liquid, granulated substance, etc., discharged from or as if from a pipe, tube, shoot, etc.

  2. a spring of water.

  3. a downpour or fall, especially of water, from a high place; waterfall.

  4. a dumbwaiter or chute, formerly common in pawnbrokers' shops, by which articles pawned were sent to another floor for storage.

  5. British Slang. pawnshop.

Idioms about spout

  1. up the spout, British Slang.

    • pawned.

    • in a desperate situation; beyond help: His financial affairs are up the spout.

Origin of spout

1
First recorded in 1300–50; (verb) Middle English spouten; cognate with Dutch spuiten; akin to the Old Norse verbspȳta spit1; (noun) Middle English spowt(e) “pipe,” akin to the noun

synonym study For spout

3, 4. See flow.

Other words for spout

Other words from spout

  • spouter, noun
  • spoutless, adjective
  • spoutlike, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use spout in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for spout

spout

/ (spaʊt) /


verb
  1. to discharge (a liquid) in a continuous jet or in spurts, esp through a narrow gap or under pressure, or (of a liquid) to gush thus

  2. (of a whale, etc) to discharge air through the blowhole, so that it forms a spray at the surface of the water

  1. informal to utter (a stream of words) on a subject, often at length

noun
  1. a tube, pipe, chute, etc, allowing the passage or pouring of liquids, grain, etc

  2. a continuous stream or jet of liquid

  1. short for waterspout

  2. up the spout slang

    • ruined or lost: any hope of rescue is right up the spout

    • pregnant

Origin of spout

1
C14: perhaps from Middle Dutch spouten, from Old Norse spyta to spit

Derived forms of spout

  • spouter, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012