spigot

American  

[spig-uht] / ˈspɪg ət /

noun

1. a small peg or plug for stopping the vent of a cask.

2. a peg or plug for stopping the passage of liquid in a faucet or cock.

3. a faucet or cock for controlling the flow of liquid from a pipe or the like.

4. the end of a pipe that enters the enlarged end of another pipe to form a joint.

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spigot British  

/ ˈspɪɡət /

noun

1. a stopper for the vent hole of a cask

2. a tap, usually of wood, fitted to a cask

3. a US name for tap 2

4. a short cylindrical projection on one component designed to fit into a hole on another, esp the male part of a joint ( spigot and socket joint ) between two pipes

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Regionalisms

See faucet.

Etymology

Origin of spigot

1350–1400; Middle English spigot, perhaps < Old French *espigot < Old Provençal espig ( a ) (< Latin spīca ear of grain; spica ) + Old French -ot diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

“When does the spigot stop? When do we stop throwing away money?” asked Burgess, who wants to see subsidies shrink.

From Salon

At the same time, use of the Fed’s standing repo facility — seen as a liquidity spigot for financial institutions in search of short-term cash to finance their operations — increased in late October.

From MarketWatch

The spigot will reopen next week with important reports from Nvidia, which will shed new light on the AI trade, and from Home Depot, Walmart and Target, which will provide an important state-of-the-consumer update.

From Barron's

“They can turn the spigot on or off whenever they want to.”

From MarketWatch

“They can turn these spigots on or off whenever they need to,” Sansoterra said of Big Tech’s capital expenditures.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• nozzle
• valve