spray
1 Americannoun
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water or other liquid broken up into minute droplets and blown, ejected into, or falling through the air.
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a jet of fine particles of liquid, as medicine, insecticide, paint, perfume, etc., discharged from an atomizer or other device for direct application to a surface.
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a liquid to be discharged or applied in such a jet.
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an apparatus or device for discharging such a liquid.
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a quantity of small objects, flying or discharged through the air.
a spray of shattered glass.
verb (used with object)
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sprays,
present (3rd person singular)
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sprayed,
past participle, past
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spraying
present participle
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to scatter in the form of fine particles.
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to apply as a spray.
to spray an insecticide on plants.
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to sprinkle or treat with a spray.
to spray plants with insecticide.
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to direct a spray of particles, missiles, etc., upon.
to spray the mob with tear gas.
verb (used without object)
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sprays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sprayed,
past participle, past
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spraying
present participle
-
to scatter spray; discharge a spray.
The hose sprayed over the flowers.
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to issue as spray.
The water sprayed from the hose.
noun
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a single, slender shoot, twig, or branch with its leaves, flowers, or berries.
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a group or bunch of cut flowers, leafy twigs, etc., arranged decoratively and for display, as in a vase.
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an ornament having a similar form.
noun
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fine particles of a liquid
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a liquid, such as perfume, paint, etc, designed to be discharged from an aerosol or atomizer
hair spray
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the aerosol or atomizer itself
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a quantity of small objects flying through the air
a spray of bullets
verb
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to scatter (liquid) in the form of fine particles
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to discharge (a liquid) from an aerosol or atomizer
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(tr) to treat or bombard with a spray
to spray the lawn
noun
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a single slender shoot, twig, or branch that bears buds, leaves, flowers, or berries, either growing on or detached from a plant
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a small decorative bouquet or corsage of flowers and foliage
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a piece of jewellery designed to resemble a spray of flowers, leaves, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sprayabilitynoun
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sprayernoun
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sprayableadjective
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spraylessadjective
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spraylikeadjective
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unsprayableadjective
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unsprayedadjective
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well-sprayedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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spraysimple
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sprayssimple
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have sprayedperfect
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has sprayedperfect
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am sprayingprogressive
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are sprayingprogressive
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is sprayingprogressive
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have been sprayingperfect progressive
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has been sprayingperfect progressive
Past
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sprayedsimple
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had sprayedperfect
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was sprayingprogressive
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were sprayingprogressive
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had been sprayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of spray1
First recorded in 1520–30; from earlier Dutch spraeyen; cognate with Middle High German spræjen
Origin of spray2
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English sprai(e); of uncertain origin; perhaps akin to sprag 1 or sprig ( def. )
Explanation
A spray is a jet of small drops of water or liquid vapor. It describes the medicine you use to make your nose less dry or the air freshener you use to make your bathroom less smelly. Though spray has had several incarnations, it is helpful to remember the German root sprühen — “to sparkle” or “to drizzle.” Spray has more than one sense, and can be a verb or a noun: If a whale were to spray you with water, you would be covered in spray. The word can also describe a group of small objects or pieces sent in the air, as in the spray of broken glass caused by your foul ball hitting a window.
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.
See Examples For:
A large-acceptance spectrometer then records the spray of particles produced in the interactions.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
About a dozen Pyka aircraft are already in Brazil where they are used to spray crops such as cotton and soybeans, work previously carried out by human pilots.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
My mom, who also had a propensity for hair that could double as armor, often joked we should bury her with a six-pack of Diet Coke and a bottle of hair spray.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
It’s like police hunting for a couple of rogue graffiti artists on a crowded street where everyone is carrying a can of spray paint.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
I jumped, and a spray of leaves and dirt flew up into the air.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
The keening chorus is anchored by Roger Troutman, who enjoyed a series of 1980s hits with sprays of talk-box-warped vocals, while the blasting beat was produced by Dr. Dre, the chief architect of G-funk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
A former electrical engineer who moved from his native Kentucky to take a defense job, Montgomery founded the company in 2023 with an eye toward getting pesticide sprays out of suburban yards.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Nadira Goffe argues that watching the film in 4DX—which features, among other things, scents, moving chairs, and sprays of water—is the superior way to experience the epic adventure.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
A boy and girl stand amid rows of crops and point at a frowning sun as an airplane sprays pesticides.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
Water sprays over the table, hitting him in the eye.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
In Stourbridge near the UK's second largest city of Birmingham, smoke rose from smouldering ruins of several roofless houses as firefighters sprayed water on the wreckage Friday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
“I kind of sprayed the ball a little bit,” Skubal said after a 6-5 win over Kansas City in his Dodger Stadium debut.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Fifteen elephants found dead in southern Kenya outside the Amboseli National Park are suspected to have been poisoned by eating tomatoes that had been sprayed with pesticides on nearby farms.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
In forward mode, water sprayed outward as it would from an ordinary lawn sprinkler.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
The king roared his roar and the others bellowed; the splashing sprayed higher and the boat rocked wildly, and was slowly, ferociously, pushed out to sea.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
But a quieter race is also under way to deploy self-flying planes, first for jobs like crop spraying and cargo delivery – and eventually, many of their makers hope, carrying passengers too.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
At one training company visited by AFP, humans holding what looked like PlayStation controllers repeated a single task -- folding clothes, moving blocks, spraying a canister -- as humanoid partners mirrored their actions.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Every summer, lawns fill with colorful "silly sprinklers," whose looping and twisting tubes send water spraying in unusual patterns.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
Whenever they felt liquid spraying down from the stands, they could only hope it was beer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
They wrestled for the hose, spraying one another, shooting the water over onto the dock, laughing and cursing each other.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
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.
