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spout

[spout]
verb (used with object)
  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)
  1. to discharge, as a liquid, in a jet or continuous stream.
  2. to issue forth with force, as liquid or other material through a narrow orifice.
  3. Informal. to talk or speak at some length or in an oratorical manner.
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noun
  1. a pipe, tube, or liplike projection through or by which a liquid is discharged, poured, or conveyed.
  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.
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Idioms
  1. up the spout, British Slang.
    1. pawned.
    2. in a desperate situation; beyond help: His financial affairs are up the spout.
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Origin of spout

1300–50; (v.) Middle English spouten; cognate with Dutch spuiten; akin to Old Norse spȳta to spit1; (noun) Middle English spowt(e) pipe, akin to the noun
Related formsspout·er, nounspout·less, adjectivespout·like, adjective

Synonyms

3, 4. squirt, stream, pour. See flow. 5. declaim, rant, harangue, speechify. 6. nozzle, nose.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for spouter

Historical Examples

  • "And if they don't, you let me know, and we'll attend to them," said Spouter to his cousin.

    The Rover Boys on Snowshoe Island

    Edward Stratemeyer

  • "Right you are," had come from his particular chum, Spouter Powell.

  • "Well, Spouter Powell is a good skater, too," returned another.

  • "You ought to let us all have a hand in that, Andy," put in Spouter.

  • Again there was a silence, and then Spouter came to the front.

British Dictionary definitions for spouter

spout

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. up the spout slang
    1. ruined or lostany hope of rescue is right up the spout
    2. pregnant
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Derived Formsspouter, noun

Word Origin

C14: perhaps from Middle Dutch spouten, from Old Norse spyta to spit
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 spouter

spout

v.

early 14c., related to Middle Dutch spoiten "to spout," North Frisian spütji "spout, squirt," Swedish sputa "to spout," and probably Middle Dutch spuwen "to spit" (see spew). Meaning "to talk, declaim" is recorded from 1610s.

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spout

n.

late 14c., from spout (v.). It was the slang term for the lift in a pawnbroker's shop, up which articles were taken for storage, hence figurative phrase up the spout "lost, hopeless, gone beyond recall" (1812).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper