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squirt

[ skwurt ]
/ skwɜrt /
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See synonyms for squirt on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object)
to eject liquid in a jet from a narrow orifice: The hose squirted all over us.
to eject a spurt of liquid: The lemon squirted in my eye.
verb (used with object)
to cause (liquid or a viscous substance) to spurt or issue in a jet, as from a narrow orifice: Squirt the water over that way!
to wet or bespatter with a liquid or viscous substance so ejected: to squirt someone with a hose.
noun
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…
candystring
candyfloss
candypuff
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of squirt

1425–75; (v.) late Middle English squirten, apparently variant of swirten; cognate with Low German swirtjen in same sense; perhaps akin to swirl; (noun) late Middle English sqwyrt diarrhea, derivative of the v.

OTHER WORDS FROM squirt

squirter, nounsquirt·ing·ly, adverbun·squirt·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to squirt

pour, spatter, spit, splash, spray, sprinkle, eject, emit, flow, jet, spritz, spurt, stream, surge

How to use squirt in a sentence

  • This apparently indicates his guilt, and the pilot labels him a “squirter.”

    Buy Your Own Drone! Now Only $300 Online|Clive Stafford-Smith|April 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST

  • I would like to get the miserable ink-squirter who wrote that, and make him run at five hundred yards from my Martini.

    Aletta|Bertram Mitford

  • The modern touch was shown in Councillor Cotterill's bay windows, bath-room and garden squirter.

    The Card, A Story Of Adventure In The Five Towns|Arnold Bennett

  • If thou bringest old histories up again, thou wilt receive thy old school-name, 'the Smoke-squirter.'

    O. T.|Hans Christian Andersen

British Dictionary definitions for squirt

squirt
/ (skwɜːt) /
verb
to force (a liquid) or (of a liquid) to be forced out of a narrow opening
(tr) to cover or spatter with liquid so ejected
noun
a jet or amount of liquid so ejected
the act or an instance of squirting
an instrument used for squirting
informal
  1. a person regarded as insignificant or contemptible
  2. a short person

Derived forms of squirt

squirter, noun

Word Origin for squirt

C15: 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
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