sputter

American  

[spuht-er] / ˈspʌt ər /

verb (used without object)

1. to make explosive popping or sizzling sounds.

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

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

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

---

verb (used with object)

1. to emit (anything) forcibly and in small particles, as if by spitting.

   The fire sputtered cinders.

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

3. to utter explosively and incoherently.

noun

1. the act or sound of sputtering.

2. explosive, incoherent utterance.

3. matter ejected in sputtering.

sputter British  

/ ˈspʌtə /

verb

1. another word for splutter splutter splutter

2. physics

   1. 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

   2. to coat (a film of a metal) onto (a solid surface) by using this process

---

noun

1. the process or noise of sputtering

2. incoherent stammering speech

3. something that is ejected while sputtering

Other Word Forms

• sputterer
  noun
• sputteringly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of sputter

1590–1600; sput- (variant of spout ) + -er ⁶; cognate with Dutch sputteren

Explanation

When someone (or something) makes a soft, fast popping sound, they sputter. If you expect to win first prize in a poetry contest but don't, you might sputter, "But...but..." When you sputter, you're often angry, surprised, or otherwise at a loss for words. You may sputter incoherent sounds, or short syllables. When you start up your dirt bike, its engine sputters too, with muted exploding sounds. This word is also a noun: "The sputter from out on the lake told me he got the old motorboat going." In physics, to sputter is to send high-energy particles onto a material, dislodging tiny particles from its surface.

Example Sentences

After drying the samples were coated on Sputter Coater.

From Nature • May 20, 2014

Sputter in those games, though, and the Americans could be ousted long before anyone expected.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 11, 2012

It is the Fifth grand Crisis in the Kaiser's spectre-huntings; fifth change in the color of the world-lobster getting boiled in that singular manner;—Second Sputter of actual War.

From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 06 by Carlyle, Thomas

"What—what—what kind of language is this, sir?" exclaimed Sir Spigot Sputter!

From The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles Of Ballytrain The Works of William Carleton, Volume One by Carleton, William

Related Words

• falter
• stammer
• stutter