cuspidor

American  

[kuhs-pi-dawr] / ˈkʌs pɪˌdɔr /

noun

1. 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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cuspidor British  

/ ˈkʌspɪˌdɔː /

noun

1. another word (esp US) for spittoon

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Etymology

Origin of cuspidor

1770–80; < Portuguese: literally, spitter, equivalent to cusp ( ir ) to spit (≪ Latin conspuere to cover with spit; con- con- + spuere to spit ¹ ) + -idor < Latin -i-tōrium; see -i-, -tory ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cuspidor

In Paris, 30 smokers, each provided with a spittoon, cuspidor or bowl, met at the annual open-air smokers' tournament, established many records.

From Time Magazine Archive

While the ineffable Judge Brown made good use of "a green cuspidor strategically located by his left foot," he rejected virtually every defense objection, say the authors.

From Time Magazine Archive

Dry agents testified in the trial, that they found the court's injunction reposing sedately in a cuspidor.

From Time Magazine Archive

Alney Chaffee made a lunge for it but it escaped him, with a resounding clank fell into a large brass cuspidor.

From Time Magazine Archive

The man, a tall, gaunt, middle-aged farmer, nodded, struggled to speak, then hastily bent over a brass cuspidor and spat.

From Girl Alone by Austin, Anne