spout

American  

[spout] / spaʊt /

verb (used with object)

• spouts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• spouted,
  past participle,  past
• spouting
  present participle

1. to emit or discharge forcibly (a liquid, granulated substance, etc.) in a stream or jet.

2. Informal. to state or declaim volubly or in an oratorical manner.

   He spouted his theories on foreign policy for the better part of the night.

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verb (used without object)

• spouts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• spouted,
  past participle,  past
• spouting
  present participle

1. to discharge, as a liquid, in a jet or continuous stream.

   Synonyms:

   pour, livestream, squirt

2. to issue forth with force, as liquid or other material through a narrow orifice.

   Synonyms:

   pour, livestream, squirt

3. Informal. to talk or speak at some length or in an oratorical manner.

   Synonyms:

   speechify, harangue, rant, declaim

noun

• spouts
  plural

1. a pipe, tube, or liplike projection through or by which a liquid is discharged, poured, or conveyed.

   Synonyms:

   nose, nozzle

2. a trough or shoot for discharging or conveying grain, flour, etc.

3. a waterspout.

4. a continuous stream of liquid, granulated substance, etc., discharged from or as if from a pipe, tube, shoot, etc.

5. a spring of water.

6. a downpour or fall, especially of water, from a high place; waterfall.

7. a dumbwaiter or chute, formerly common in pawnbrokers' shops, by which articles pawned were sent to another floor for storage.

8. British Slang. pawnshop.

idioms

1. up the spout,

   1. pawned.

   2. in a desperate situation; beyond help.

      His financial affairs are up the spout.

spout British  

/ spaʊt /

verb

1. to discharge (a liquid) in a continuous jet or in spurts, esp through a narrow gap or under pressure, or (of a liquid) to gush thus

2. (of a whale, etc) to discharge air through the blowhole, so that it forms a spray at the surface of the water

3. informal to utter (a stream of words) on a subject, often at length

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noun

1. a tube, pipe, chute, etc, allowing the passage or pouring of liquids, grain, etc

2. a continuous stream or jet of liquid

3. short for waterspout

4. slang

   1. ruined or lost

      any hope of rescue is right up the spout

   2. pregnant

Synonym Usage

See flow.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• spouter
  noun
• spoutless
  adjective
• spoutlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spouts
  plural

Participles

• spouting
  present
• spouted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• spout
  simple
• spouts
  simple
• have spouted
  perfect
• has spouted
  perfect
• am spouting
  progressive
• are spouting
  progressive
• is spouting
  progressive
• have been spouting
  perfect progressive
• has been spouting
  perfect progressive

Past

• spouted
  simple
• had spouted
  perfect
• was spouting
  progressive
• were spouting
  progressive
• had been spouting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will spout
  simple
• will have spouted
  perfect
• will be spouting
  progressive
• will have been spouting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of spout

First recorded in 1300–50; (verb) Middle English spouten; cognate with Dutch spuiten; akin to the Old Norse verb spȳta spit ¹; (noun) Middle English spowt(e) “pipe,” akin to the noun

Explanation

A spout is the narrow opening in the edge of a container that makes it easier to neatly pour its contents. A pitcher's spout helps you direct your orange juice into your glass. Some spouts are indentations or lips, and others — like the spout on a teapot — are tubes. Another meaning of spout is "gush suddenly in a stream." If you filled your teapot too full, tea might spout from its spout. When someone figuratively spouts, she talks in a loud, animated way. The verb form of spout came first, from a Proto-Germanic root that also spawned the Middle Dutch spoiten and the Swedish sputa, both also meaning spout.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spout spouts spouted spouting

Its stars form a shape that resembles a teapot, including a handle, lid, and spout.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

Countless LinkedIn pages spout something about residing at the intersection of sport and fashion.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

A spruce branch threaded through the spout as a filter.

From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026

Everyone’s an influencer, anyone can spout at you, and sorting through that, I think, must just be mind-boggling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026

Sophie holds open the mail slot, and we insert our makeshift spout.

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman

But he says he doesn’t think twice about what someone spouts behind a screen.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

Peter: Can Rangers please employ someone to edit the post-match interview drivel that spouts from the head coach?

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2025

The tattoo-dappled Norwegian spouts opinions without fear, once boasting that he could beat Kerr “blindfolded.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2025

Sales of food pouches — soft bags with plastic spouts for easy consumption — have increased 900% since 2010, overtaking jarred purees as the predominant baby food on the market.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2024

Ben’s Noise is humming a little tune out near one of the irrigashun spouts so I take a turn and head across the field toward him.

From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness

Executives at both OpenAI and Anthropic constantly spouted about the existential threat of artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

It was a Leavitt classic: she spouted utter nonsense with total conviction.

From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2025

They misquoted him to his face, misrepresented his work, and spouted cocksure inanities showing with every word that, scientifically speaking, they have no idea what they’re talking about.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2024

They will speak of taking it one step at a time, not looking too far ahead and going into each match trying to win - cliches they have often spouted.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2023

The great body was held back, but rivers spouted through fissures in the rolling wall and broke like day.

From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston

During their closing arguments in November, the deputy prosecutors said the companies' behaviour had been "unacceptable", accusing them of "spouting nonsense and pulling arguments out of thin air".

From BBC ● May 21, 2026

About a third of local workers are employed in mining and construction, a category that includes oil, and many more jobs indirectly depend on the money spouting out of oil wells.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026

At the same time, she is also uninterested in spouting the uplifting banalities that can make some celebrities seem calculated, as if every setback is just a marketing opportunity in disguise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2025

But much of what they are spouting is self-help, internet based, anecdotal nonsense.

From Salon ● Jul. 16, 2025

I wonder what else has happened in this chair—people have probably peed on it, licked it, drummed their heads against it, and writhed around in it spouting gibberish.

From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini

Related Words

• gush