Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A spittoon.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A spittoon.
Wiktionary
- n. US spittoon
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Any ornamental vessel used as a spittoon; hence, to avoid the common term, a spittoon of any sort.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a receptacle for spit (usually in a public place)
Etymologies
- From Portuguese cuspidor ("spitter"). (Wiktionary)
- Portuguese, from cuspir, to spit, from Latin cōnspuere, to spit upon : com-, intensive pref.; see com- + spuere, to spit. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Why do they call themselves by the graceful name of "cuspidor" -- suggestive of castanets and Andalusian wiles?”
“He spits out the coffee into a large brass cuspidor which is designed for the purpose.”
“The house had a stereo with speakers the size of filing cabinets, a beer-filled refrigerator, and a brass cuspidor heaped with sinsemilla.”
“Other sites include Word Spy, which is great and which a bunch of Wordie commenters have linked to, and My Favorite Word, which claims that Joyce's favorite word was "cuspidor." read more | digg story”
“Pergunta nº1: porque é que eu, ateu descrente, cuspidor em padrecos e pontapeador de bíblias, caio nestas tretas?”
“Ben shifted slightly and used a foot pedal to open a bronze cuspidor shaped like a turtle.”
“It was an ordinary outer office of the golden-oak variety, with a railing of spindles separating a telephone switchboard and two typewriter desks from two public settles and a brass cuspidor.”
“The bed was rickety, with a thin knotty mattress; the sand-colored walls were scratched and gouged; in every corner, under everything, were fluffy dust and cigar ashes; on the tilted wash-stand was a nicked and squatty pitcher; the only chair was a grim straight object of spotty varnish; but there was an altogether splendid gilt and rose cuspidor.”
“Quote from 1909 article: … the famous cuspidor curver … He broke the spitball in and out.”
“Then filling first a cup with tepid water, she brought a large cuspidor for Pao-yü to wash his mouth.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cuspidor’.
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phrontistery - c
from phrontistery.info
caballine, cabas, cable, caboched, cabochon, caboose, cabotage, cabré, cabrie, cabriole, cabriolet, cacaesthesia and 1298 more...
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Chabon, Michael
A lexicographical taste of his novels.
omniveillant, exophthalmic, loupe, golem, aetataureate, animadversion, termagancy, cuspidor, bombes, viridian, escutcheon, moderne and 6 more...
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Reckon's Word List
Turned On
tintinnabulation, talisman, soliloquy, serendipity, quintessential, rhapsody, plethora, myrrh, palimpsest, panoply, mellifluous, loquacious and 102 more...
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word tank
a couple words
logolepsy, nefarious, quintessential, tintinnabulation, serendipity, rhapsody, palimpsest, panoply, mellifluous, imbue, loquacious, garrulous and 174 more...
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poonis's Words
windswept, brouhaha, nocuous, sanguine, dissonance, diatribe, homunculus, rancor, stupor, resplendent, anecdote, splay and 125 more...
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azd's Words
adamantine, abatial, ablate, ablative, abrogate, accretive, acromegaly, acrostic, actinism, actinic, acuity, adduce and 968 more...
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List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
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iwbaker's list
basic trial list
septentrional, saucebox, cuspidor, prestidigitator, mudbug, zeitgeist
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NeoVolt's Words
schadenfreude, serendipity, idiosyncrasy, loess, caducous, vagary, schematic, steeple, licentious, tangential, verisimilitude, vernacular and 385 more...
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simple & useful15
handsomely, fleshed-out, perpetually, consorting, blood relation, cubistic, implausibly, tom swifties, coiffed, progeny, deconstructed, humdrum and 93 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, C
cryptoxanthin, convent, calcar, chuckle, campanile, covet, complexion, campestral, chirography, counterscarp, caliginous, catabolism and 722 more...
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Scriptie: The Shakespearean Language ...
It isn't all about fucking cocksuckers. There aren't too many shows on TV that use Wordie words. (So of course it was cancelled.)
Best viewed in cloud format.sweggen, hooplehead, cocksucker, dope, yankton, camp, pussy, bonanza, laudanum, chinaman, hoecake, free gratis and 210 more...
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Ute
Durable items invented by Hom. Sap.
alpenhorn, matchbox, plinth, pillow, cantilever, fulcrum, troika, cloverleaf, nib, wheelbarrow, dictabelt, cockpit and 184 more...
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Words suggested in response to Funk's...
In response to Wilfred J. Funk's "ten most beautiful words in the English language" list of 1932.
beer, rum, rye, sauterne, sherry, brandy, bourbon, Scotch, champagne, cocktail, lyric, serenity and 137 more...
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persnickety parlance
behoove, ebullient, insouciant, insipient, froth, quandary, quixotic, tendril, maktub, furrow, furl, anastrophe and 1076 more...
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kelson's Words
oriole, cerulean, damask, luminous, bobolink, camellia, halcyon, anemone, chalice, asphodel, tendril, myrrh and 6 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cuspidor.

madmouth Oh, Theodore, don't spit on the floor
Please use a cuspidor; that's what it's for Apr 17, 2009
john Supposedly Joyce's favorite word. If you Google "joyce spitoon" you'll get hundreds of references to this, but I couldn't find an actual source anywhere. Sep 29, 2007