spit
nounverbverbnounnounverbcommon in dialogue
- United States//spɪt//
A thin metal or wooden rod on which meat is skewered for cooking, often over a fire.
noun
- 1
A thin metal or wooden rod on which meat is skewered for cooking, often over a fire.
They roaſt a fowl, by running a piece of wood through it, by way of ſpit, and holding it over a briſk fire, until the feathers are burnt of, when it is ready for eating, in their taſte.
When the joint to be roasted is thicker at one end than the other, place the spit slanting, so that the whole time the thickest part is nearest the fire, and also the thinnest by this means is preserved from being overmuch roasted.
The spits upon which the double sections of fish are transfixed are iron rods about 7 feet long, provided with an L-shaped handle at one end, so that when hung on a bracket at either side of the fireplace it may be turned by hand.
- 2
A generally low, narrow, pointed, usually sandy peninsula or bar.
Sand-spits are unfinished beaches, and long tongues or points of land, formed of sand and shingle, by the transporting action of currents and the waves. In Coldspring harbor, a sand-spit extends from the west shore, obliquely, nearly across. [...] The materials are transported by the currents and waves, and deposited to form this spit.
Or perhaps he may see a group of washerwomen relieved, on a spit of shingle, against the blue sea, [...]
Chiao Shih, 44 feet high, lies about 1/2 mile southeastward of Ko-li, a 199-foot islet, that lies close off the south end of Pei-kan-t’ang Tao and is connected to it by a stoney spit.
Playa margins are dominated by relict shoreline features, such as wave-cut terraces, depositional beach ridges, and offshore bars and spits.
Etymology
The noun is from Middle English spit, spite, spete, spette, spyte, spytte (“rod on which meat is cooked; rod used as a torture instrument; short spear; point of a spear; spine in the fin of a fish; pointed object; dagger symbol; land projecting into the sea”), from Old English spitu (“rod on which meat is cooked; spit”), from Proto-Germanic *spitō (“rod; skewer; spike”), *spituz (“rod on which meat is cooked; stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *speyd-, *spey- (“sharp; sharp stick”). The English word is cognate with Dutch spit, Low German Spitt (“pike, spear; spike; skewer; spit”), Danish spid, Swedish spett (“skewer; spit; type of crowbar”). The verb is derived from the noun, or from Middle English spiten (“to put on a spit; to impale”), from spit, spite: see above. The English verb is cognate with Middle Dutch speten, spitten (modern Dutch speten), Middle Low German speten (Low German spitten, modern German spießen (“to skewer, to spear”), spissen (now dialectal)) and Danish spidde.
verb
- 1
To impale on a spit; to pierce with a sharp object.
to spit a loin of veal
Fried or roast mice, spitted on sticks like kebabs, are often offered for sale by the roadside.
[H]e has seen kitchens thrown into turmoil, and he himself has been down in the grey-green hour before dawn, when the brick ovens are swabbed out ready for the first batch of loaves, as carcasses are spitted, pots set on trivets, poultry plucked and jointed.
- 2
To use a spit to cook; to attend to food that is cooking on a spit.
She’s spitting the roast in the kitchen.
Moll. Ha's my Mother ſeene him yet. / Frail[ty]. O no, ſhee's—ſpitting in the Kitchin.
[H]e saw that the fires scattered all over the massive camp were emitting greasy fumes from the carcasses of the burning animals spitted over the flames.
verb
- 1
To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.
And they ſpit upon him [Jesus Christ], and tooke the reed, and ſmote him on the head.
Aquil[ina]. […] pray vvhat Beast vvill your VVorship pleaſe to be next? / Anto[nio]. Novv I'l be a Senator agen, and thy Lover little Nicky Nacky! [He ſits by her.] Ah toad, toad, toad, toad! ſpit in my Face a little, Nacky—ſpit in my Face prithee, ſpit in my Face, never ſo little: […]
Yes there were times, I'm sure you knew/When I bit off more than I could chew/But through it all, when there was doubt/I ate it up and spit it out.
When the mighty duststorm, silent and terrifying, first engulfed her, she thought she would choke. Spitting dust from her dry lips, she ran indoors to protect the children, and found them coughing.
- 2
To emit or expel in a manner similar to evacuating saliva from the mouth.
a hot pan spitting droplets of fat
The wag zigzagged across the field, bumping over ruts in the soil and tangled grass as a stream of bullets followed them from the high-mounted railguns, spitting sparks from the metal sides of the wag.
- 3
To rain or snow slightly.
"There! now, Strickland, I know all about what you intend to say, and therefore need not be told; but see, it spits with rain, 'tis late, Graham's turned in, let's below; […]
It had been "spitting" with rain for the last half-hour, and now it began to pour in good earnest.
It spits snow this afternoon. Saw a flock of snowbirds on the Walden road. I see them so commonly when it is beginning to snow that I am inclined to regard them as a sign of a snow-storm.
Does it rain? — It's nobbut spitting a bit.
- 4
To utter (something) violently.
"Why, you little emasculated Don Juan— You—" he spat an unmentionable name— "d'you think I'd fight one of your tin-soldier farces with you? Clear out!"
"Gentleman? You?" he spat.
- 5
To make a spitting sound, like an angry cat.
- 6
slangTo rap, to utter.
A group of black guys were spitting rhymes in the corner, slapping hands and egging one another on.
Didn't matter if I was out there spittin' on the mic or breaking ankles on the court, the best feeling in the world was performing in front of thousands of fans who couldn't stop screaming my name.
[…] mutating into all-star line-ups of emcees spitting hot bars over familiar beats, then to a single crew spitting bars over familiar beats, then eventually to a single crew (or artist) spitting bars over unfamiliar beats.
- 7
slang(in the form spitting) To spit facts; to tell the truth.
He's spitting for sure.
Etymology
The verb is from Middle English spē̆ten, spete (“to spit (blood, phlegm, saliva, venom, etc.); of a fire: to emit sparks”), from Old English spǣtan (“to spit; to squirt”); or from Middle English spit, spitte, spitten (“to spit (blood, phlegm, saliva, venom, etc.); of a fire: to emit sparks”), from Old English spittan, spyttan (“to spit”), both from Proto-Germanic, from Proto-Indo-European *sp(y)ēw, *spyū, ultimately imitative; compare Middle English spitelen (“to spit out, expectorate”) and English spew. The English word is cognate with Danish spytte (“to spit”), North Frisian spütte, Norwegian spytte (“to spit”), Swedish spotta (“to spit”), Old Norse spýta (Faroese spýta (“to spit”), Icelandic spýta (“to spit”)). The noun is derived from the verb; compare Danish spyt (“spit”), Middle English spit, spytte (“saliva, spittle, sputum”), spet (“saliva, spittle”), spē̆tel (“saliva, spittle”), North Frisian spiit.
noun
- 1
Saliva, especially when expectorated.
There was spit all over the washbasin.
Sometimes your body doesn't make as much spit as it needs. When you sleep, your salivary glands take a bit of a snooze too. You're still making spit, but not as much. This is why your mouth feels dry when you wake up.
[T]hey marked their truce by each of them, Aesir and Vanir alike, one by one spitting into a vat. As their spit mingled, so was their agreement made binding.
- 2
An instance of spitting; specifically, a light fall of rain or snow.
It was early winter in the southern continent, a season of rain and winds and mud, and indeed coals in a nearby brazier hissed with a few spits of rain.
- 3
Likeness; used, usually in set phrases (see spitting image) of a person who exactly resembles someone else.
[…] according to some of the elders of the village, young Philip was the “very spit” of his father, as they once remembered him […]
Lots of people claimed she was the image of her father (about the same number who saw her as the dead spit of her mother), which was a little disconcerting.
- 4
Synonym of slam (“card game”).
noun
- 1
The depth to which the blade of a spade goes into the soil when it is used for digging; a layer of soil of the depth of a spade's blade.
They [the potatoes] ſtood till October, when they were taken up, and a large pye made of them; which is laying them up in a heap, and covering them with ſtraw and a ſpit of earth.
The firſt plantation, containing four thouſand ſix hundred oaks, was formed on part of the ancient Home Park, ſurrounding this Caſtle: the ſoil was dug one full ſpit, and the turf inverted; [...]
Soil of the usual depth may be trenched two spit (spadeful) deep; and if this is done every third year, it is evident that the surface which has produced three crops will rest for the next three years; thus giving a much better chance of constantly producing healthy and luxuriant crops, and with one half the manure that would otherwise be requisite.
Proceed as for the single dig but start by removing two spits of topsoil to the far diagonal corner and also one spit of subsoil. Turn the exposed subsoil from hole two into hole one. Incorporate organic matter.
- 2
The amount of soil that a spade holds; a spadeful.
Dig your clay with a ſpade in ſpits of ordinary bricks; dig two, three, eight, ten or twenty loads of clay, more or leſs as you pleaſe; [...] then take theſe ſpits of clay, after they are tried in the ſun, ſurround your pile of wood with them, [...]
Etymology
The noun is from Middle Dutch speet, spit, Middle Low German spêdt, spit (Low German spit); the word is cognate with Dutch spit, North Frisian spatt, spet, West Frisian spit. The verb is from Middle English spitten (“to dig”), from Old English spittan (“to dig with a spade”), possibly from spitu (“rod on which meat is cooked; spit”); see further at etymology 1. The English word is cognate with Middle Dutch spetten, spitten (modern Dutch spitten), Middle Low German speten, spitten (Low German spitten), North Frisian spat, West Frisian spitte.
verb
- 1
To dig (something) using a spade; also, to turn (the soil) using a plough.
[T]he double plough, by taking faſt hold of the mould, throws all back again; and if the vegetables are not effectually earthed up, which may be the caſe after double ſpitting the intervals, then running the double plough over again, completes the buſineſs, and ſtrangely toſſes about and mellows the mould.
- 2
To plant (something) using a spade.
When the [peach] seed is procured it is either "spitted in" with a spade or planted in rows in the nursery.
- 3
To dig, to spade.
We left the ground, of field of loam, by ſuppoſition under two ſorts of managements; the one part very rough, and the other made as fine as circumſtances would allow; the former ploughed the uſual depth, the other double ſpitted; [...]
Then the ground is "spitted" or spaded in about six or eight inches deep, as a garden is for a crop of vegetables.
Forms
- plural
- spits
- past tense
- spitted, spat
- past participle
- spitted, spat
- present participle
- spitting
- third person singular
- spits
spit · A thin metal or wooden rod on which meat is skewered for cooking, often over a fire.
spite · Ill will or hatred toward another, accompanied with the…spitting · An appearance on the surface of melted silver or platinum…splash · The sound made by an object hitting a liquid.