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

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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

I criticize, however, the picture you ran of him sitting at his desk, next to a large brass cuspidor.

From Time Magazine Archive

There was a fireplace in every living room, a gilded chamber pot under every bed, a brass cuspidor in every room.

From Time Magazine Archive

Roaring Rory spat a huge cud of tobacco into a cuspidor six feet away, the better to express his astonishment.

From The Argus Pheasant by Beecham, John Charles