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

Bigger saw a thin spout of steam jutting from the pot and smelt the good scent of coffee.

From "Native Son" by Richard Wright

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2025

"They aren't designed to sail through tornadoes or water spouts."

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2024

It’s one thing to watch migrating gray whales off the Southern California coast, standing at the rail of a big boat, looking for spouts in the distance and perhaps drawing within 100 yards.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 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

Killer whales cruised the open leads, blowing spouts of icy spray.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

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

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

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2023

The former president spouted off on Truth Social Thursday evening in response to the notification.

From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2023

"Doesn't know enough to keep his mouth shut, to keep his opinions to himself. He spouted off about a Nazi statue!"

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

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

His global reputation, as an overgrown godlike Boy Scout spouting American ideals, for years made him less hip for modern viewers than his brooding billionaire vigilante counterpoint, Batman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2025

The guard, a man, hovers behind her as she watches the video feed, spouting useless information about body language that, surely, an educated and trained psychologist already knows.

From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2025

Buried amidst the mess of metal and spouting wires, Ms Kimachuk spotted a tiny character from the Korean alphabet.

From BBC ● May 4, 2024

“I don’t go around spouting faerie stories and touching iron. I’m here so I can learn the truth. So I can have information that comes from somewhere more reliable than thirdhand stories.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Related Words

• gush