sputtering
[spuht-er-ing]
- Engineering, Electronics. a process that uses ions of an inert gas to dislodge atoms from the surface of a crystalline material, the atoms then being electrically deposited to form an extremely thin coating on a glass, metal, plastic, or other surface.
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Origin of sputtering
sputter
[spuht-er]
- 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.
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- 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.
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- the act or sound of sputtering.
- explosive, incoherent utterance.
- matter ejected in sputtering.
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Origin of sputter
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sputtering
Contemporary Examples
Sputtering, I manage a few “hut-hut-huts” with the other students.
When he finally delivered his five lines, “my mouth had frozen, so this sputtering sort of came out,” Tambor says.
Jeffrey Tambor Is One Helluva Woman: Inside His Phenomenal Turn in ‘Transparent’Kevin Fallon
September 24, 2014
But by next spring or summer, it may be someone else sputtering for excuses.
Even while sputtering out the most eye-rolling lines about his new love for the Kardashian family, he was remarkably pleasant.
Kanye West Debuts Baby North During Ridiculous Interview With Kris JennerKevin Fallon
August 23, 2013
In 2008, the economy was already eight months into a deep recession; in 2011, the recovery was sputtering along in very low gear.
Historical Examples
The whole face of the sea around the dock broke into a sort of sputtering.
The Cruise of the Dry DockT. S. Stribling
Sputtering and choking for breath, Rawson came to the surface.
Two Thousand Miles BelowCharles Willard Diffin
His face was afire with the drink that he had taken, and his throat was guggling and sputtering.
Capt'n Davy's HoneymoonHall Caine
If you hear a sizzling and sputtering in your electric-light socket, what does it mean?
Common ScienceCarleton W. Washburne
He woke with a start and looked into the sputtering glare of a torch.
The Valor of Cappen VarraPoul William Anderson
sputter
- 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
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- the process or noise of sputtering
- incoherent stammering speech
- something that is ejected while sputtering
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Word Origin
C16: from Dutch sputteren, of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for sputtering
sputter
v.
1590s, "to spit with explosive sounds," cognate with Dutch sputteren, West Frisian sputterje (see spout). Related: Sputtered; sputtering. The noun is attested from 1670s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper