spit

¹ American  

[spit] / spɪt /

verb (used without object)

spit, spat, spitting

1. to eject saliva from the mouth; expectorate.

2. to express hatred, contempt, etc., by or as if by ejecting saliva from the mouth.

3. to sputter.

   grease spitting on the fire.

   Synonyms:

   spatter

4. to fall in scattered drops or flakes, as rain or snow.

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verb (used with object)

spit, spat, spitting

1. to eject from the mouth.

   The children were spitting watermelon seeds over the fence.

2. to throw out or emit like saliva.

   The kettle spits boiling water over the stove.

3. to set a flame to.

noun

1. saliva, especially when ejected.

2. the act of spitting.

3. Also called spittle.  Entomology. the frothy secretion exuded by spittlebugs.

4. a light fall of rain or snow.

verb phrase

1. spit up to vomit; throw up.

   The wounded soldier spat up blood.

   If you jostle the baby, she'll spit up.

idioms

1. spit and image, exact likeness; counterpart: Also spitting image, spit 'n' image.

   Hunched over his desk, pen in hand, he was the spit and image of his father at work.

spit ² American  

[spit] / spɪt /

noun

1. a pointed rod or bar for thrusting through and holding meat that is to be cooked before or over a fire.

2. any of various rods, pins, or the like used for particular purposes.

3. a narrow point of land projecting into the water.

4. a long, narrow shoal extending from the shore.

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verb (used with object)

spitted, spitting

1. to pierce, stab, or transfix, as with a spit; impale on something sharp.

2. to thrust a spit into or through.

spit ¹ British  

/ spɪt /

verb

1. (intr) to expel saliva from the mouth; expectorate

2. informal (intr) to show disdain or hatred by spitting

3. (of a fire, hot fat, etc) to eject (fragments of coal, sparks, etc) violently and with an explosive sound; splutter

4. (intr) to rain very lightly

5. to eject or discharge (something) from the mouth

   he spat the food out

   to spit blood

6. to utter (short sharp words or syllables), esp in a violent manner

7. Also (NZ): spit tacks.  slang to be very angry

8. informal a command given to someone that he should speak forthwith

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noun

1. another name for spittle

2. a light or brief fall of rain, snow, etc

3. the act or an instance of spitting

4. informal another word for spitting image

spit ² British  

/ spɪt /

noun

1. a pointed rod on which meat is skewered and roasted before or over an open fire

2. Also called: rotisserie.   rotating spit.  a similar device rotated by electricity or clockwork, fitted onto a cooker

3. an elongated often hooked strip of sand or shingle projecting from the shore, deposited by longshore drift, and usually above water

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verb

1. (tr) to impale on or transfix with or as if with a spit

spit ³ British  

/ spɪt /

noun

1. the depth of earth cut by a spade; a spade's depth

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Other Word Forms

• spitter
  noun
• spitlike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of spit¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English verb spitten, spit(te), Old English spyttan, spittan; cognate with Old Norse spýta, German (dialect) spitzen “to spit”; the noun is derivative of the verb

Origin of spit²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English spit(e), spitte, Old English spitu; cognate with Middle Dutch, Middle Low German spit, spet, Old High German spiz “spit”; akin to Old Norse spīta “wooden peg, spit”

Explanation

To spit is to propel saliva—which is also called spit—from your mouth. Generally speaking, it's rude to spit, particularly if you're at a fancy dinner party. There are some parts of the world where it's socially acceptable to spit in public, and it was once accepted in most of the West too. During the Middle Ages, Western Europeans found it less polite to "suck back" spit than to, well, spit. And spittoons, receptacles for spitting in, were common until the early 20th century, when the influenza epidemic and public health campaigns about tuberculosis greatly reduced public spitting.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spit spat spitted spitting

They say dating apps that spit out an unlimited menu of potential partners make it too easy to miss obvious red flags.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

LinkedIn is peppered with stories of job listings requiring candidates to take questionnaires or use specific words or phrases in cover letters, in order to avoid applications spit out by bots.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

One is a spit test that looks for genetic material.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

The minute I spit that out, then it just became fun.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

Seven flew through the woods and out into the road like the Cursed Forest had literally spit her out.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

Authorities from throughout Southern California have faced a spat of e-bike and e-motorcycle incidents, including a teen who led Orange County law enforcement on a chase last month.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

"I spat it out, but there was some left. The taste of this food will stay with me the rest of my life," she says.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

Tensions have been running high since a spat earlier this year between the Pentagon and Anthropic over the use of AI in the military showed how thorny the decisions can be.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

Pentwater Capital agrees to pay Avis Budget to resolve an unusual spat where the car rental company singled out one of its major shareholders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

The lieutenant spat again, his ginger chaw just missing my toes.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

That’s because the first preseason practice of the Kalen DeBoer era was greeted with a sudden bout of Pacific Northwest weather, as rain spitted on the turf inside Husky Stadium Thursday.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2022

But the King had plenty for himself, his party, and for a banquet of spitted laham-mashwy and rice pilaff for the ship's officers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Defendant Browder instead chose to plead his own case, ably belabored the technical charge on which he was spitted.

From Time Magazine Archive

The whole world is invited, as many reputations as possible are spitted and turned slowly over a sizzling fire, the fumes purposely wafted this way and that.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then, as they had no wine, they made libation with clear spring water, broiling the entrails first; and when the bones were burnt and tripes shared, they spitted the carved meat.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

Thrust into a position that was not his, Bradley had to endure the jeers of frenzied aficionados at the start of his professional career, along with spitting and tossed coins.

From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026

Tasting the coffee properly requires slurping it with gusto, hence the music to mask the sounds of dozens of people slurping and spitting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

Aitch was discovered as a youngster by local entrepreneur Michael Adex, founder of the talent management company NQ, while spitting bars at a local open mic night.

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026

“Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer,” he wrote.

From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2026

For the rest of the night the only sounds are the sounds I decide to make: writing numbers, spitting toothpaste, walking like a cat to my room, closing my bedroom door, flipping pages.

From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari

Related Words

• drool
• hiss
• spew
• sputter