cuspidor

[ kuhs-pi-dawr ]

/ ˈkʌs pɪˌdɔr /

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noun

a large bowl, often of metal, serving as a receptacle for spit, especially from chewing tobacco: in wide use during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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Origin of cuspidor

1770–80; <Portuguese: literally, spitter, equivalent to cusp(ir) to spit (≪ Latin conspuere to cover with spit; con-con- + spuere to spit¹) + -idor<Latin -i-tōrium;see -i-, -tory²

Words nearby cuspidor

cusped, cuspid, cuspidal, cuspidate, cuspidation, cuspidor, cuss, cussed, cussing, cussword, custard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cuspidor in a sentence

Jack Bowden rose, spit carefully into the shiny brass cuspidor, placed there to preserve the long-haired red carpet, and began.
Mountain|Clement Wood
His clothes were seedy, and his remarks punctuated by amber-colored shots at the cuspidor.
The Incendiary|W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
"Dutch" scratched his head, and, to better conceal his emotion, let go another flyer of saliva at the cuspidor.
By Right of Conquest|Arthur Hornblow
Twice after he took his seat at the bade end of the double line he tried for a wooden cuspidor ten feet away.
Back Home|Irvin S. Cobb

Roaring Rory spat a huge cud of tobacco into a cuspidor six feet away, the better to express his astonishment.
The Argus Pheasant|John Charles Beecham

British Dictionary definitions for cuspidor

cuspidor

/ (ˈkʌspɪˌdɔː) /

noun

another word (esp US) for spittoon

Word Origin for cuspidor

C18: from Portuguese, from cuspir to spit, from Latin conspuere, from spuere to spit

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012