spout

American  

[spout] / spaʊt /

verb (used with object)

• spouts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• spouted,
  past participle,  past
• spouting
  present participle

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.

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verb (used without object)

• spouts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• spouted,
  past participle,  past
• spouting
  present participle

1. to discharge, as a liquid, in a jet or continuous stream.

   Synonyms:

   pour, livestream, squirt

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

   Synonyms:

   pour, livestream, squirt

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

   Synonyms:

   speechify, harangue, rant, declaim

noun

• spouts
  plural

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

   Synonyms:

   nose, nozzle

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

3. a waterspout.

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

5. a spring of water.

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

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

8. British Slang. pawnshop.

idioms

1. up the spout,

   1. pawned.

   2. in a desperate situation; beyond help.

      His financial affairs are up the spout.

spout British  

/ 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

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

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noun

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

2. a continuous stream or jet of liquid

3. short for waterspout

4. slang

   1. ruined or lost

      any hope of rescue is right up the spout

   2. pregnant

Synonym Usage

See flow.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• spouter
  noun
• spoutless
  adjective
• spoutlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spouts
  plural

Participles

• spouting
  present
• spouted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• spout
  simple
• spouts
  simple
• have spouted
  perfect
• has spouted
  perfect
• am spouting
  progressive
• are spouting
  progressive
• is spouting
  progressive
• have been spouting
  perfect progressive
• has been spouting
  perfect progressive

Past

• spouted
  simple
• had spouted
  perfect
• was spouting
  progressive
• were spouting
  progressive
• had been spouting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will spout
  simple
• will have spouted
  perfect
• will be spouting
  progressive
• will have been spouting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of spout

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

Explanation

A spout is the narrow opening in the edge of a container that makes it easier to neatly pour its contents. A pitcher's spout helps you direct your orange juice into your glass. Some spouts are indentations or lips, and others — like the spout on a teapot — are tubes. Another meaning of spout is "gush suddenly in a stream." If you filled your teapot too full, tea might spout from its spout. When someone figuratively spouts, she talks in a loud, animated way. The verb form of spout came first, from a Proto-Germanic root that also spawned the Middle Dutch spoiten and the Swedish sputa, both also meaning spout.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spout spouts spouted spouting

Its stars form a shape that resembles a teapot, including a handle, lid, and spout.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

Inside, the music continues: Grampy strips the knobs from his gas stove and connects the resulting length of pipe to a teapot’s spout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

“They expose themselves to ridicule and spout all sorts of nonsense. Those are clowns. And I think that movie captured that.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

I don’t like to spout clichés, but you do have to put your own oxygen mask on first in this situation.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 11, 2026

“Salty! Need...water,” he gasped, gulping water directly from the faucet spout.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

But he says he doesn’t think twice about what someone spouts behind a screen.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

During heavy rains, water spouts from the mouths of carved dragons on the corners of the roof.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

The Bayesian sank near the town of Portofino on 19 August of last year during freak weather, with reports of water spouts.

From BBC ● May 14, 2025

It’s one thing to watch migrating gray whales off the Southern California coast, standing at the rail of a big boat, looking for spouts in the distance and perhaps drawing within 100 yards.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2024

The stone cutters and sculptors carved the stone gutters and down spouts that were to be installed in the buttresses.

From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay

Executives at both OpenAI and Anthropic constantly spouted about the existential threat of artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

In April, at his first news conference since taking office, Kennedy spouted a fountain of misinformation about autism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025

They will speak of taking it one step at a time, not looking too far ahead and going into each match trying to win - cliches they have often spouted.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2023

However, Hunga Tonga spouted an unusually high amount of water and low amount of cooling sulfur.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2023

Humpbacks and killer whales spouted in the distance, and the water was dotted with ice floes on which fat, blinking seals basked in the sun.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

Distinguished by a red-tiled facade and paper lanterns hanging overhead, the shrine had offering cups arranged in rows on a crimson table and a bronze urn spouting wisps of incense.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

In the extraordinary abstraction that follows, Thatcher finds her ideal role as one of NWR’s stilted avatars, gussied up in couture and spouting riddles.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

During their closing arguments in November, the deputy prosecutors said the companies' behaviour had been "unacceptable", accusing them of "spouting nonsense and pulling arguments out of thin air".

From BBC ● May 21, 2026

At the same time, she is also uninterested in spouting the uplifting banalities that can make some celebrities seem calculated, as if every setback is just a marketing opportunity in disguise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2025

I would be alerted to their presence by their spouting.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Related Words

• gush