spatter
Americanverb (used with object)
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to scatter or dash in small particles or drops.
The dog spattered mud on everyone when he shook himself.
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to splash with something in small particles.
to spatter the ground with water.
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to sprinkle or spot with something that soils or stains.
verb (used without object)
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to send out small particles or drops, as falling water.
rain spattering on a tin roof.
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to strike a surface in or as in a shower, as bullets.
noun
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the act or the sound of spattering.
the spatter of rain on a roof.
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a splash or spot of something spattered.
verb
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to scatter or splash (a substance, esp a liquid) or (of a substance) to splash (something) in scattered drops
to spatter mud on the car
mud spattered in her face
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(tr) to sprinkle, cover, or spot (with a liquid)
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(tr) to slander or defame
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(intr) to shower or rain down
bullets spattered around them
noun
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the sound of something spattering
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something spattered, such as a spot or splash
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the act or an instance of spattering
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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spattersimple
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spatterssimple
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have spatteredperfect
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has spatteredperfect
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am spatteringprogressive
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are spatteringprogressive
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is spatteringprogressive
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have been spatteringperfect progressive
-
has been spatteringperfect progressive
Past
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spatteredsimple
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had spatteredperfect
-
was spatteringprogressive
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were spatteringprogressive
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had been spatteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of spatter
1575–85; perhaps < Dutch spatt ( en ) to splash + -er 6; compare Dutch spatterig literally, spattery
Explanation
If you spatter something, you splash it with tiny drops of a liquid, like the way the artist Jackson Pollock dripped and spattered paint across a large canvas. You can spatter sauce across your stretched-out pizza dough, and you can also listen to rain spatter against the windows during a storm. Spatter can describe the splashing of a substance, like paint on a piece of wood, or the sound something makes, like the spatter of pebbles against the side of the shed. Experts believe spatter comes from the imitative Low German verb spatten, "to spout or burst."
Vocabulary lists containing spatter
Charlotte's Web
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Mr. Popper’s Penguins
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My Brother Sam is Dead
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"My dear John Spatter," I assured him, "that is precisely what I mean."
From Some Christmas Stories by Dickens, Charles
"All not worth mentioning, John Spatter," said I, "but certainly true."
From Some Christmas Stories by Dickens, Charles
Spatter, spat′ėr, v.t. to throw out or scatter upon: to scatter about: to sprinkle with dirt or anything moist: to defame.—n. the act of spattering: what is spattered.—n.pl.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
"Spatter work" is a means of obtaining a delicate printable tone, consisting of innumerable little dots of ink spattered on the paper.
From Pen Drawing An Illustrated Treatise by Maginnis, Charles
"Still not worth mentioning, my dear John Spatter," said I; "still, equally true."
From Some Christmas Stories by Dickens, Charles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
