spit

Etymology

Definitions

1. 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.
2. 2

   A generally low, narrow, pointed, usually sandy peninsula or bar.

   • 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.
3. 3

   To impale on a spit

   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.
4. ›+ 18 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To use a spit to cook

      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.
   2. 5

      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.
      • 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.
   3. 6

      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.
   4. 7

      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.
   5. 8

      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.
   6. 9

      To make a spitting sound, like an angry cat.

   7. 10

      To 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.
   8. 11

      (in the form spitting) To spit facts

      (in the form spitting) To spit facts; to tell the truth.

      • He's spitting for sure.
   9. 12

      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.
   10. 13

       An instance of spitting

       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.
   11. 14

       Likeness

       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.
   12. 15

       Synonym of slam (“card game”).

   13. 16

       The depth to which the blade of a spade goes into the soil when it is used for digging

       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; [...]
   14. 17

       The amount of soil that a spade holds

       The amount of soil that a spade holds; a spadeful.

   15. 18

       To dig (something) using a spade

       To dig (something) using a spade; also, to turn (the soil) using a plough.

   16. 19

       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.
   17. 20

       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.
   18. 21

       Abbreviation of spam over Internet telephony.

The neighborhood

• neighborskewer
• neighborspit-spot