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

A spruce branch threaded through the spout as a filter.

From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026

Advice givers end up asking about three questions in response to every one they are posed, and they spout a lot of general advice to avoid being wrong.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 9, 2026

Social media created incentives for content creators to spout engagement-baiting nonsense.

From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2025

They’re filling plastic honey-bear bottles with coffee and adding a straw into the spout of the cover.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025

My memories pour out of my mouth like the fresh juice flowing from the machine’s spout.

From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan

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 baby food pouches — soft bags with plastic spouts for easy consumption — have skyrocketed since 2010.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2024

"Every year they do the same thing," he says, noting that supermarkets usually fight for customers with cut price "potatoes, carrots, parsnips, Brussels spouts".

From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2024

It is nutrient-packed, like the rest of its cruciferous brethren, yet it has not always garnered the same respect as cauliflower, Brussels spouts or even broccoli.

From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2024

Icy air spouts from four slotted squares above our heads, a reminder that this room was intended to preserve seeds.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

However, Hunga Tonga spouted an unusually high amount of water and low amount of cooling sulfur.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2023

His crazy ideas, constantly spouted on a variety of platforms, have enable him to seem almost legitimate.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2023

Mr Hancock tweeted that "disgusting and dangerous anti-semitic, anti-vax, anti-scientific conspiracy theories spouted by a sitting MP this morning are unacceptable and have absolutely no place in our society".

From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2023

Rills of water began to run down; soon they grew to a spate that splashed and fumed on the stones, and spouted out over the cliff like the gutters of a vast roof.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

Forever spouting hilariously wrong theories about the Traitors, I started to feel bad for him when his teammates made fun of him as he sang backwards lullabies played by creepy dolls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025

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

She doesn’t have much of anything going on besides a job at JFK driving travelers from gate to gate, enthusiastically spouting facts about the places they’re going.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2024

The US space agency says its Voyager-1 probe is once again sending usable information back to Earth after months of spouting gibberish.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2024

Plastic flowers were planted around the edge, and a weather vane topped by a spouting whale stood in the center.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

Related Words

• gush