spigot

American  

[spig-uht] / ˈspɪg ət /

noun

1. a small peg or plug for stopping the vent of a cask.

2. a peg or plug for stopping the passage of liquid in a faucet or cock.

3. a faucet or cock for controlling the flow of liquid from a pipe or the like.

4. the end of a pipe that enters the enlarged end of another pipe to form a joint.

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spigot British  

/ ˈspɪɡət /

noun

1. a stopper for the vent hole of a cask

2. a tap, usually of wood, fitted to a cask

3. a US name for tap 2

4. a short cylindrical projection on one component designed to fit into a hole on another, esp the male part of a joint ( spigot and socket joint ) between two pipes

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Regionalisms

See faucet.

Etymology

Origin of spigot

1350–1400; Middle English spigot, perhaps < Old French *espigot < Old Provençal espig ( a ) (< Latin spīca ear of grain; spica ) + Old French -ot diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

To that end, Meta is opening up the spigot.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

Without that money spigot, David Ellison’s own ventures look much more perilous.

From Slate • Mar. 20, 2026

“When does the spigot stop? When do we stop throwing away money?” asked Burgess, who wants to see subsidies shrink.

From Salon • Dec. 4, 2025

At the same time, use of the Fed’s standing repo facility — seen as a liquidity spigot for financial institutions in search of short-term cash to finance their operations — increased in late October.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 22, 2025

Water comes from a spigot two blocks away.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Related Words

• nozzle
• valve