spatter

[ spat-er ]

/ ˈspæt ər /

verb (used with object)

to scatter or dash in small particles or drops: The dog spattered mud on everyone when he shook himself.

to splash with something in small particles: to spatter the ground with water.

to sprinkle or spot with something that soils or stains.

verb (used without object)

to send out small particles or drops, as falling water: rain spattering on a tin roof.

to strike a surface in or as in a shower, as bullets.

noun

the act or the sound of spattering: the spatter of rain on a roof.

a splash or spot of something spattered.

Words nearby spatter

spatial, spatial frequency, spatial summation, spatiography, spatiotemporal, spatter, spatter cone, spatter dash, spatterdash, spatterdock, spatula

Origin of spatter

1575–85; perhaps < Dutch spatt(en) to splash + -er⁶; compare Dutch spatterig literally, spattery

OTHER WORDS FROM spatter

spat·ter·ing·ly, adverbun·spat·tered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spattered

Then the arrows began to fly and among them spattered a few bullets.
An Autobiography of Buffalo Bill (Colonel W. F. Cody)|Buffalo Bill (William Frederick Cody)
He has been accused of a positive gusto for knives and bayonets, for redly dripping steel and spattered flesh.
Rudyard Kipling|John Palmer
A few heavy perpendicular raindrops crashed and spattered through the foliage like molten lead.
Sally Dows and Other Stories|Bret Harte
It was clad in a flannel sleeping suit, spattered with mud and clay, and oozing with water.
The Shrieking Pit|Arthur J. Rees

Akúlka's mother came along, espied the splashed frock and spattered chemise on her daughter.
A Survey of Russian Literature, with Selections|Isabel Florence Hapgood

British Dictionary definitions for spattered

spatter

/ (ˈspætə) /

verb

to scatter or splash (a substance, esp a liquid) or (of a substance) to splash (something) in scattered dropsto spatter mud on the car; mud spattered in her face

(tr) to sprinkle, cover, or spot (with a liquid)

(tr) to slander or defame

(intr) to shower or rain downbullets spattered around them

noun

the sound of something spattering

something spattered, such as a spot or splash

the act or an instance of spattering

Word Origin for spatter

C16: of imitative origin; related to Low German, Dutch spatten to spout, Frisian spatteren to splash

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

spatter

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

Words related to spatter

Words nearby spatter

Origin of spatter

OTHER WORDS FROM spatter

Examples from the Web for spattered

British Dictionary definitions for spattered

verb

noun

Word Origin for spatter