spit1
• verb (spitting; past and past part. spat or spit) 1 eject saliva forcibly from one’s mouth. 2 forcibly eject (food or liquid) from one’s mouth. 3 say in a hostile way. 4 (of a fire or something being cooked) emit small bursts of sparks or hot fat with a series of explosive noises. 5 (it spits, it is spitting, etc.) Brit. light rain falls. • noun 1 saliva. 2 an act of spitting. — PHRASES be the spitting image of (or be the spit of) informal look exactly like. originally as the spit of or the spit and image of: perhaps from the idea of a person apparently being formed from the spit of another, so great is the similarity between them. spit and polish thorough cleaning and polishing. spit-and-sawdust Brit. informal (of a pub) that appears dirty or run-down. spit blood (or Austral. chips) feel or express vehement anger. spit in the eye (or face) of show contempt or scorn for. spit it out informal (as a command) say it quickly; stop hesitating. — DERIVATIVES spitter noun. — ORIGIN Old English.
Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day
Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names
| 
