spew
Americanverb (used without object)
-
spews,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spewed,
past participle, past
-
spewing
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
spews,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spewed,
past participle, past
-
spewing
present participle
-
to eject from the stomach through the mouth; vomit.
-
to cast forth, gush, or eject, as in disgust or anger.
The angry sergeant spewed his charges at us.
noun
verb
-
to eject (the contents of the stomach) involuntarily through the mouth; vomit
-
to spit (spittle, phlegm, etc) out of the mouth
-
(usually foll by out) to send or be sent out in a stream
flames spewed out
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
spewsimple
-
spewssimple
-
have spewedperfect
-
has spewedperfect
-
am spewingprogressive
-
are spewingprogressive
-
is spewingprogressive
-
have been spewingperfect progressive
-
has been spewingperfect progressive
Past
-
spewedsimple
-
had spewedperfect
-
was spewingprogressive
-
were spewingprogressive
-
had been spewingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of spew
First recorded before 900; Middle English spewen “to vomit, cast forth foul language,” Old English spīwan “to vomit”; cognate with German speien, Old Norse spȳja, Gothic speiwan, Latin spuere
Explanation
To spew is to forcefully expel something, the way a volcano spews hot lava when it erupts, or the way you might spew soda from your mouth if your friend makes you laugh right after you take a big gulp. You might see steam spew from the factory near your house or watch a city bus spew smoke from its exhaust pipe. Figuratively, to spew can also mean "to say ugly or hateful things," and some people also use it to mean "vomit." The Old English source of spew is spiwan ("to spit") and comes from a root that probably imitated the sound of someone spitting.
Vocabulary lists containing spew
Articles on Environmental Issues and Sustainable Living
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I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, AD 79
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Jerry Lee Lewis (1935–2022) Tribute List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Teenager Jasmine Bernard, who lives in a neighborhood bordering Boxtown, has been fighting for two years against the gas turbines that power the data center and spew emissions into the air.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Large language models can spew Mississippi Rivers of data and text, but they struggle to write a log line for a 120-page screenplay, a subtitle for a book, or a few lines of poetry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
It used to be that coal’s biggest opponents were environmentalists who raised alarms about the soot they spew.
From Barron's ● Apr. 20, 2026
They spew light, energy and solar material into space, sometimes towards Earth, which is the case this week.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2025
At first, it had felt a little like holding in cruel words instead of speaking them—how they sit burning on the back of your tongue like a secret poison, ready to spew into the world.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
When Thoreau spews nonsense, such as men, “like the earth, revolve mainly from west to east, and so are flattened at the poles,” let’s call the silliness by its real name.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
A short walk away, a threshing machine spews clouds of dust and chaff as wheat pours out in a steady stream, rattling into worn brown sacks at farmers' feet.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
Concerns remain about an AI bubble and big tech’s colossal investments in AI infrastructure, and the technology still spews out reams of inaccurate information.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 1, 2026
Social media already spews out enough expectations on us, so it can get even more overwhelming when it comes directly from family and friends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024
The iron hisses and spews an angry cloud of steam.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
Authorities evacuated more than 500 people last year after Fuego spewed gas and ash, with residents moved to shelters from communities near the crater.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, announcing sanctions against her in July last year, said she has "spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism and open contempt for the United States, Israel and the West."
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
Several blocks in Garden Grove were evacuated Thursday afternoon as toxic chemicals spewed into the air from a leaking storage tank at an aerospace company, authorities said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
He spewed Amtrak facts like he was the conductor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
Only the shape of a mouth was visible, and it spewed the same smoke that filled the rest of the painting.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
On a particularly tense drive, they are chased by scorching, wind-fueled wildfires and volcanic ash spewing from Mount Etna.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
This year marked 40 years since the Chernobyl nuclear accident which caused a reactor to start spewing out radioactive material that would spread across swathes of Europe.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
River or the ongoing cold storage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights that is spewing toxic smoke.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
But communities nearby complained that the plants were spewing pollutants.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
“You don’t have to like your teacher,” she told me one day after I came home spewing complaints.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
