First recorded in 1965–70
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Shirts by Niamh, a business providing custom designs, has more than 100,000 followers on TikTok and charges up to £35 for shirts with glitter, gems, spray paint and feathers.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
After getting out a few cans of spray paint, something drew him to the manhole cover in the street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
Working to remove the spray paint scrawled across the windows felt like a tangible thing she could do for a few hours before she had to pick up her young children from school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2025
I mean, everywhere — there’s got to be a spray paint shortage at this point.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2025
It’s disconcertingly like a washroom scribble, something you’d write with spray paint on a wall.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
There’s trees that they climbed … and I let them spray-paint the fences.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
Denim faded into sheers, or was treated with a spray-paint effect.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
Aesthetically, Cre8 says the mural will be especially vibrant, executed in a dynamic style of spray-paint art.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2023
Some of her points are tongue-in-cheek — “When in doubt spray-paint it gold” — while others are universal: “Fight monomania,” and “Wake up early, fear death.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
“Although if this doesn’t work, Oliver and I totally get to spray-paint his door. What do you think, Hyacinth?”
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
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.
