sputter

[ spuht-er ]

/ ˈspʌt ər /

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See synonyms for: sputter / sputtering on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to make explosive popping or sizzling sounds.

to emit particles, sparks, etc., forcibly or explosively, especially accompanied by sputtering sounds.

to eject particles of saliva, food, etc., from the mouth in a light spray, as when speaking angrily or excitedly.

to utter or spit out words or sounds explosively or incoherently, as when angry or flustered.

verb (used with object)

to emit (anything) forcibly and in small particles, as if by spitting: The fire sputtered cinders.

to eject (saliva, food, etc.) in small particles explosively and involuntarily, as in excitement.

to utter explosively and incoherently.

noun

the act or sound of sputtering.

explosive, incoherent utterance.

matter ejected in sputtering.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of sputter

1590–1600; sput- (variant of spout) + -er⁶; cognate with Dutch sputteren

OTHER WORDS FROM sputter

sput·ter·er, nounsput·ter·ing·ly, adverb

Words nearby sputter

spur track, spur veins, spur wheel, sputnik, Sputniks, sputter, sputtering, sputum, Spuyten Duyvil Creek, spy, spyglass

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sputter in a sentence

The cell’s energy factory, the mitochondria, sputters and malfunctions.
What’s Your Biological Age? A New ‘Aging Clock’ Has the Answer|Shelly Fan|May 24, 2022|Singularity Hub
They continue to sputter up and down, without fully recovering.
The Big Idea: Saving the World’s Most Important Fish|Kevin M. Bailey|August 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
If the only policy tool you allow yourself to use is tax credits, your reform agenda will sputter into ineffectuality.
All Good Things...|David Frum|June 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Here's one graf: The Woodward reporting has caused the White House spin machine to sputter at a crucial time.
Bob Woodward and Politico and the Worst of Washington|Michael Tomasky|February 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST

And racial divisions may become worse if the economy continues to sputter.
A Racially Polarized Election Augurs Ill for Barack Obama’s Second Term|Joel Kotkin|November 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The veranda, roofless and open to the bitter blue sky where the seasonal gu rains sputter, serves as a makeshift neonatal ward.
Somalia Famine Aid Stolen: U.N.||August 13, 2011|DAILY BEAST
She glanced uneasily at Gwynne and fancied she could hear him slam the lid of his breeding upon a supercilious sputter.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
She laughed so hard that she blew the ashes out of her pipe, and they showered down over my face, and made me wink and sputter.
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd
Welcome worked the requisite levers, the machine began to sputter, and the boys gave it a shove.
Motor Matt's Daring, or, True to His Friends|Stanley R. Matthews
With a wheezy sputter, it stopped dead, refusing to answer the frantic twists Perry gave the handle-bars.
Motor Matt's Daring, or, True to His Friends|Stanley R. Matthews
Then all they'll do is buzz and sputter until the feedback is broken with the key.
Meeting of the Board|Alan Edward Nourse

British Dictionary definitions for sputter

sputter

/ (ˈspʌtə) /

verb

another word for splutter (def. 1), splutter (def. 2), splutter (def. 3)

physics

to undergo or cause to undergo a process in which atoms of a solid are removed from its surface by the impact of high-energy ions, as in a discharge tube
to coat (a film of a metal) onto (a solid surface) by using this process

noun

the process or noise of sputtering

incoherent stammering speech

something that is ejected while sputtering

Derived forms of sputter

sputterer, noun

Word Origin for sputter

C16: from Dutch sputteren, of imitative origin

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

sputter

Origin of sputter

OTHER WORDS FROM sputter

Words nearby sputter

Words related to sputter

How to use sputter in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sputter

Derived forms of sputter

Word Origin for sputter