Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A spittoon.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A spittoon.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Any ornamental vessel used as a spittoon; hence, to avoid the common term, a spittoon of any sort.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US spittoon

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a receptacle for spit (usually in a public place)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Portuguese, from cuspir, to spit, from Latin cōnspuere, to spit upon : com-, intensive pref.; see com– + spuere, to spit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Portuguese cuspidor ("spitter").

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Examples

  • Why do they call themselves by the graceful name of "cuspidor" -- suggestive of castanets and Andalusian wiles?

    The Sunny Side of Diplomatic Life, 1875-1912 1886

  • He spits out the coffee into a large brass cuspidor which is designed for the purpose.

    All About Coffee 1909

  • The house had a stereo with speakers the size of filing cabinets, a beer-filled refrigerator, and a brass cuspidor heaped with sinsemilla.

    Here Comes Another Lesson Stephen O’Connor 2010

  • 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

    Archive 2007-09-01 2007

  • Ben shifted slightly and used a foot pedal to open a bronze cuspidor shaped like a turtle.

    Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine 2005

  • Pergunta nº1: porque é que eu, ateu descrente, cuspidor em padrecos e pontapeador de bíblias, caio nestas tretas?

    Natal Artur 2005

  • Ben shifted slightly and used a foot pedal to open a bronze cuspidor shaped like a turtle.

    Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine 2005

  • 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.

    Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine 2005

  • 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.

    Main Street 2004

  • Quote from 1909 article: … the famous cuspidor curver … He broke the spitball in and out.

    The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004

Comments

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  • 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.

    September 29, 2007

  • Oh, Theodore, don't spit on the floor

    Please use a cuspidor; that's what it's for

    April 18, 2009