sputter

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“
Then she heard him sputter, and dropped on her knees beside him, crying, 'Dick, you aren't hurt, are you?

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Definitions (28)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. intransitive verb To spit out or spray particles of saliva or food from the mouth in noisy bursts.
  2. intransitive verb To spit out words or sounds in an excited or confused manner.
  3. intransitive verb To make sporadic spitting or popping sounds: The fire sputtered and died.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (8)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (7)

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Examples (50)

  • Epstein fills in the spaces with splash and sputter, and finally Olson enters to add his own mysterious lines.
  • Just as some cities 'newspapers sputter, a handful of Web sites emerge to cull local content from government data, blogs and news media. —  Megite Technology News: What's Happening Right Now
  • As the US economy continues to sputter, at least one Florida market is booming: Weddings on the Beach. —  PRWeb
  • South Tahoe's offense continued to sputter, and Carson opened the fourth quarter with five straight points to increase its lead to 56-40 with 5: 39 remaining. —  Tahoe Daily Tribune - Top Stories
  • As baby-boomers inch closer to retirement and the economy continues to sputter, there are renewed worries about pension-fund liabilities cropping up across the nation. —  Education Week American Education News Site of Record
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This word has been looked up 152 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

white-hot ·  sizzle ·  incandescent ·  burnt-out ·  inaudible ·  wordless ·  smoky ·  ever-burning ·  acetylene ·  unlit ·  livid ·  guttural

Used in the same contextWord Family

sputter:   sputtering ·  sputtered ·  sputters
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Probably of Low German origin; akin to Dutch sputteren.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Also in variant splutter; cf. Low German spruttern, sputtern, sprinkle, German sprudeln, spout, squirt; freq. of the verb represented by spout. Cf. spurtle, spirtle.
  2. from sputter, v.
 

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/ˈspətər/
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