spout

American  

[spaut] / 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

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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

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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

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

When tropical rains battered the building earlier this month, leaks seemed to spout from everywhere, said one 40-year-old man.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2025

Jaysus, Molloy, come down off that spout or I’ll tell me mother.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

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

Peter: Can Rangers please employ someone to edit the post-match interview drivel that spouts from the head coach?

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2025

Sales of baby food pouches — soft bags with plastic spouts for easy consumption — have skyrocketed since 2010.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2024

Taking a deep breath, I turned my attention to the fountain, the soft rush of its spouts doing nothing to ease the knot in my stomach.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

It was a Leavitt classic: she spouted utter nonsense with total conviction.

From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2025

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

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2023

Mr Hancock tweeted that "disgusting and dangerous anti-semitic, anti-vax, anti-scientific conspiracy theories spouted by a sitting MP this morning are unacceptable and have absolutely no place in our society".

From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2023

In the central fountain, the little statue of Bacchus spouted water into the basin.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

Forever spouting hilariously wrong theories about the Traitors, I started to feel bad for him when his teammates made fun of him as he sang backwards lullabies played by creepy dolls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025

And rather than fly under the radar, Marler took the risk of spouting his theories openly, and was arguably the most bullish at the roundtables, even managing to ruffle Carr's feathers.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2025

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

The guard, a man, hovers behind her as she watches the video feed, spouting useless information about body language that, surely, an educated and trained psychologist already knows.

From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2025

He covered well, spouting a pleasantry before shifting into Common Tongue to say, “This is a day such as dreams are made of. I never thought to set eyes on a Tizerkane warrior.”

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

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