sputter
To emit saliva or spit from the mouth in small, scattered portions, as in rapid speakingTo emit saliva or spit from the mouth in small, scattered portions, as in rapid speaking.
Recorded UK: Speaker: Vealhurl Recorder: Vealhurl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Ziri coughed, sputtered and gasped for air.
Amastan · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
6 languagesBy meaning 3
By meaning 2
Examples
6 sentencesZiri coughed, sputtered and gasped for air.
They can't help but sputter excuses for their sorry behavior.
"How dare you talk like that to me?" he sputtered with indignation.
Meaning
5 senses(intransitive)To emit saliva or spit from the mouth in small, scattered portions, as in rapid speaking.
spucken
бры́згать слюнойbrýzgatʹ
(ambitransitive)To speak so rapidly as to emit saliva; to utter words hastily and indistinctly, with a spluttering sound, as in rage.
mit feuchter Aussprache sprechen
бессвязно говори́тьbessvjazno
utter with a spitting sound, as if in a rage
(transitive)To coat the surface of an object by sputtering.
напылятьnapyljatʹ
More meanings 2
(intransitive)To cause surface atoms or electrons of a solid to be ejected by bombarding it with heavy atoms or ions.
(ambitransitive)To throw out anything, as little jets of steam, with a noise like that made by one sputtering.
Origin
Probably representing Middle English *sputren, *sputrien, a frequentative form of Middle EProbably representing Middle English *sputren, *sputrien, a frequentative form of Middle English sputen (“to spout, vomit”), equivalent to spout + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian spüttern (“to inject, spray, splash”), West Frisian sputterje (“to sputter”), Dutch sputteren (“to sputter”), Low German sputtern, spruttern (“to sprinkle”), German sprudeln (“to spout, squirt”). Compare splutter.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
sputters, sputtering, sputtered, sputteredirregular
| Base form | sputter · to sputter |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | sputters |
| Present participle | sputtering |
| Past simple | sputtered |
| Past participle | sputtered |
Tenses
sputter · sputtered · will sputter · have sputteredSynonyms
9 synonymsWord family
8 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.