spindrift

[spin-drift]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spindrift ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

spray swept by a violent wind along the surface of the sea.

Also spoondrift.

Origin of spindrift

1590–1600; variant of Scots speendrift spoondrift

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

Related Words for spindrift

aerosol, sprinkler, swell, wave, scum, foam, froth, splash, fog, moisture, drizzle, duster, atomizer, vaporizer, combers, rollers, effervescence, head, yeast, scud

Examples from the Web for spindrift

Historical Examples of spindrift

And the spindrift struck me in the eyes like hands full of sand.
Gilian The Dreamer
Neil Munro
Gregg and Joan were blown away by the sound like spindrift before the wind.
The Premiere
Richard Sabia
He dropped Scotty at the landing, then turned the launch back to Spindrift.
Smugglers' Reef
John Blaine
Rick hung up the phone in the Spindrift library and turned to Scotty.
Smugglers' Reef
John Blaine
And Jan's presence was a part of the big secret of Spindrift.
The Electronic Mind Reader
John Blaine

British Dictionary definitions for spindrift

spindrift

noun

spray blown up from the surface of the sea

powdery snow blown off a mountain

Nontechnical name: spoondrift

Word Origin for spindrift

C17: of Scottish origin, possibly from a variant of obsolete spoon to scud + drift

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

Word Origin and History for spindrift

c.1600, Scottish formation from verb spene, alteration of spoon "to sail before the wind" (1570s, of uncertain origin) + drift. "Common in English writers from c 1880, probably at first under the influence of W. Black's novels" [OED].