spit

Etymology 1

The noun is from Middle English spit, spite, spete, spette, spyte, spytte (“rod on which meat is cooked; rod used as a torture instrument; short spear; point of a spear; spine in the fin of a fish; pointed object; dagger symbol; land projecting into the sea”), from Old English spitu (“rod on which meat is cooked; spit”), from Proto-Germanic *spitō (“rod; skewer; spike”), *spituz (“rod on which meat is cooked; stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *spid-, *spey- (“sharp; sharp stick”). The English word is cognate with Dutch spit, Low German Spitt (“pike, spear; spike; skewer; spit”), Danish spid, Swedish spett (“skewer; spit; type of crowbar”). The verb is derived from the noun, or from Middle English spiten (“to put on a spit; to impale”), from spit, spite: see above. The English word is cognate with Middle Dutch speten, spitten (modern Dutch speten), Middle Low German speten (Low German spitten, modern German spießen (“to skewer, to spear”), spissen (now dialectal)) and Danish spidde.

noun

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. 1793, G. Hamilton, “[Appendix to the Tenth Volume of the Monthly Review Enlarged.] A Short Description of Carnicobar”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, volume X, London: Printed for R[alph] Griffiths; and sold by T[homas] Becket,[…], →OCLC, page 509
   An Engliſh family in the country, … would receive you with an unquiet hoſpitality, and an anxious politeneſs; and after waiting for a hurry-ſcurry derangement of cloth, table, plates, ſideboard, pot and ſpit, would give you perhaps ſo good a dinner, that none of the family, between anxiety and fatigue, could ſupply one word of converſation, and you would depart under cordial wiſhes that you might never return.—This folly, ſo common in England, is never met with in France: … 1793, Arthur Young, “1788 [chapter]”, in Travels during the Years 1787, 1788 and 1789, Undertaken More Particularly with a View of Ascertaining the Cultivation, Wealth, Resources, and National Prosperity of the Kingdom of France. […] In Two Volumes, volume I, Dublin: Printed for Messrs. R. Cross,[…], →OCLC, page 192
   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. 1817, [William Kitchiner], “Roasting”, in Apicius Redivivus; or, The Cook’s Oracle:[…], London: Printed for Samuel Bagster,[…], by J. Moyes,[…], →OCLC
   The spits upon which the double sections of fish are transfixed are iron rods about 7 feet long, provided with an L-shaped handle at one end, so that when hung on a bracket at either side of the fireplace it may be turned by hand. 1950, James Hornell, “The Greatest Eel-farm and Eel-trap in the World”, in Fishing in Many Waters, 1st paperback edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: At the University Press, published 2014, page 166
2. A generally low, narrow, pointed, usually sandy peninsula.
   Sand-spits are unfinished beaches, and long tongues or points of land, formed of sand and shingle, by the transporting action of currents and the waves. In Coldspring harbor, a sand-spit extends from the west shore, obliquely, nearly across. … The materials are transported by the currents and waves, and deposited to form this spit. 1843, William W[illiams] Mather, “Marine Alluvial Detritus”, in Geology of New-York (Natural History of New York; part 4), part I (Comprising the Geology of the First Geological District), Albany, N.Y.: Printed by Carroll & Cook,[…], →OCLC, page 28
   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. 1962, Publications, number 94, United States Hydrographic Office, →OCLC, page 228, column 2
   Playa margins are dominated by relict shoreline features, such as wave-cut terraces, depositional beach ridges, and offshore bars and spits. 2016, Robert C. Graham, A. Toby O’Geen, “Geomorphology and Soils”, in Harold Mooney, Erika Zavaleta, editors, Ecosystems of California, Oakland, Calif.: University of California Press, part 1 (Drivers), page 63, column 1

verb

1. (transitive) 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. 1991, I. F. La Croix, E. A. S. La Croix, T. M. La Croix, “Malaŵi: Climate and Geography”, in Orchids of Malaŵi: The Epiphytic and Terrestrial Orchids from South and East Central Africa, Rotterdam, Brookfield, Vt.: A[ugust] A[imé] Balkema, page 4, column 2
   [H]e has seen kitchens thrown into turmoil, and he himself has been down in the grey-green hour before dawn, when the brick ovens are swabbed out ready for the first batch of loaves, as carcasses are spitted, pots set on trivets, poultry plucked and jointed. 2012, Hilary Mantel, “Falcons: Wiltshire, September 1535”, in Bring Up the Bodies, London: Fourth Estate, part 1
2. (transitive) To use a spit to cook; to attend to food that is cooking on a spit.
   She’s spitting the roast in the kitchen.
   [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. 2005, Gary Alan Wassner, chapter 36, in The Twins, Port Orchard, Wash.: Windstorm Creative; republished London: Gateway, 2014

Etymology 2

The verb is from Middle English spē̆ten, spete (“to spit (blood, phlegm, saliva, venom, etc.); of a fire: to emit sparks”), from Old English spǣtan (“to spit; to squirt”); or from Middle English spit, spitte, spitten (“to spit (blood, phlegm, saliva, venom, etc.); of a fire: to emit sparks”), from Old English spittan, spyttan (“to spit”), both from Proto-Germanic, from Proto-Indo-European *sp(y)ēw, *spyū, ultimately imitative; compare Middle English spitelen (“to spit out, expectorate”) and English spew. The English word is cognate with Danish spytte (“to spit”), North Frisian spütte, Norwegian spytte (“to spit”), Swedish spotta (“to spit”), Old Norse spýta (Faroese spýta (“to spit”), Icelandic spýta (“to spit”)). The noun is derived from the verb; compare Danish spyt (“spit”), Middle English spit, spytte (“saliva, spittle, sputum”), spet (“saliva, spittle”), spē̆tel (“saliva, spittle”), North Frisian spiit.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.
   When the mighty duststorm, silent and terrifying, first engulfed her, she thought she would choke. Spitting dust from her dry lips, she ran indoors to protect the children, and found them coughing. 1974, James A[lbert] Michener, “Drylands”, in Centennial, New York, N.Y.: Random House; Dial Press trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Dial Press, 2015, page 931
   At the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. Disgusted with himself at such cowardice, he spat a needle from his mouth, stepped back from the tree and listened. There were no sounds of any movement upstairs: no shouts, no sleepy grumbles, only a gentle tinkle from the decorations as the tree had recovered from the collision. 1994, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus, London: Hutchinson, page 25; republished London: Arrow Books, Random House Group, 1995, pages 39–40
   The 47-year-old had allegedly been spat at by a passenger at London Victoria who said he had the virus, although a subsequent police investigation concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone. October 21 2020, “Network News: Belly Mujinga”, in Rail, page 11
2. (transitive, intransitive) 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. 2015 May, James Axler [pseudonym; Rik Hoskin], chapter 6, in Hell’s Maw (Outlanders; 73), Don Mills, Ont.: Gold Eagle Books, Worldwide Library, page 73
3. (impersonal) To rain or snow slightly.
   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. 24 December 1851, Henry David Thoreau, “December, 1851 (Æt[atis] 34)”, in Bradford Torrey, editor, The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, volumes III (September 16, 1851 – April 30, 1852), Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin and Company, published 1906, →OCLC, page 153
4. (transitive, intransitive) 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!" 1915, Amélie Rives (Princess Troubetzkoy), chapter XXXIX, in Shadows of Flames: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Frederick A[bbott] Stokes Company, →OCLC, page 240
   "Gentleman? You?" he spat. 2004, Mark Gatiss, “The Mystery of the Two Geologists”, in The Vesuvius Club: A Bit of Fluff (A Lucifer Box Novel), New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster; republished New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, 2005, page 23
5. (intransitive) To make a spitting sound, like an angry cat.
6. (transitive, slang, hip-hop) To rap, to utter.
   A group of black guys were spitting rhymes in the corner, slapping hands and egging one another on. 2005, Giselle Zado Wasfie, So Fly, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Griffin
   […] 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. 2021, Jehnie I. Burns, Mixtape Nostalgia: Culture, Memory, and Representation, page 138
7. (intransitive, slang, humorous) (in the form spitting) To spit facts; to tell the truth.
   He's spitting for sure.

noun

1. (uncountable) 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. 2010, Connie Colwell Miller, “How Spit Happens”, in The Slimy Book of Spit (The Amazingly Gross Human Body), Mankato, Minn.: Edge Books, Capstone Press, page 19
2. (countable) 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. 2015, Col Buchanan, “Return of the King”, in The Black Dream, London: Tor Books
3. A person who exactly resembles someone else (usually in set phrases; see spitting image).
   […] according to some of the elders of the village, young Philip was the “very spit” of his father, as they once remembered him […] 1840, The Court Magazine & Monthly Critic and Lady's Magazine, page 405
   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. 2011, Kate Konopicky, “Worn-Out Genes”, in A Woman Of No Importance: A Tenderly Observed, Ruthlessly Honest and Hilariously Funny Memoir about the Joys and Horrors of Motherhood, Ebury Publishing
4. (uncountable) Synonym of slam (“card game”)

Etymology 3

The noun is from Middle Dutch speet, spit, Middle Low German spêdt, spit (Low German spit); the word is cognate with Dutch spit, North Frisian spatt, spet, West Frisian spit. The verb is from Middle English spitten (“to dig”), from Old English spittan (“to dig with a spade”), possibly from spitu (“rod on which meat is cooked; spit”); see further at etymology 1. The English word is cognate with Middle Dutch spetten, spitten (modern Dutch spitten), Middle Low German speten, spitten (Low German spitten), North Frisian spat, West Frisian spitte.

noun

1. 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. 10 January 1791, Samuel Dunn, Transactions of the Society Instituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce;[…], volume IX, London: Printed by T. Spilsbury and Son,[…]; and sold by Messrs. [James] Dodsley,[…], →OCLC, page 42
   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; … 1 January 1792, Lewis Majendie, Transactions of the Society Instituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce;[…], volume X, London: Printed by T. Spilsbury and Son,[…]; and sold by Messrs. [James] Dodsley,[…], →OCLC, page 4
   Soil of the usual depth may be trenched two spit (spadeful) deep; and if this is done every third year, it is evident that the surface which has produced three crops will rest for the next three years; thus giving a much better chance of constantly producing healthy and luxuriant crops, and with one half the manure that would otherwise be requisite. 1832, “Horticulture”, in David Brewster, editor, The Edinburgh Encyclopædia, … In Eighteen Volumes, 1st American edition, volume X, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published by Joseph and Edward Parker.[…], →OCLC, page 545, column 1
   Proceed as for the single dig but start by removing two spits of topsoil to the far diagonal corner and also one spit of subsoil. Turn the exposed subsoil from hole two into hole one. Incorporate organic matter. [2006], NIIR Board of Consultants & Engineers, “Production and Management of Medicinal Plants on Farms”, in Cultivation and Processing of Selected Medicinal Plants, Delhi: Asia Pacific Business Press, page 82
2. The amount of soil that a spade holds; a spadeful.
   Dig your clay with a ſpade in ſpits of ordinary bricks; dig two, three, eight, ten or twenty loads of clay, more or leſs as you pleaſe; … then take theſe ſpits of clay, after they are tried in the ſun, ſurround your pile of wood with them, … 1795 March, Ezra L’Hommedieu, “Observations on Manures”, in Transactions of the Society, for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts and Manufactures, Instituted in the State of New-York, 2nd revised edition, volume I, Albany, N.Y.: Printed by Charles R. and George Webster,[…], published 1801, →OCLC, part III (Transactions, &c.), page 235

verb

1. (transitive, dialectal) To dig (something) using a spade; also, to turn (the soil) using a plough.
   [T]he double plough, by taking faſt hold of the mould, throws all back again; and if the vegetables are not effectually earthed up, which may be the caſe after double ſpitting the intervals, then running the double plough over again, completes the buſineſs, and ſtrangely toſſes about and mellows the mould. 1769, “PLOUGH”, in The Complete Farmer: Or, A General Dictionary of Husbandry in All Its Branches;[…], 2nd corrected and improved edition, London: Printed for R. Baldwin,[…], →OCLC, column 2
2. (transitive, dialectal) 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. 1882 May, J. Alexander Fulton, “Delaware Peach Orchards”, in Joseph H. Reall, editor, Agricultural Review and Journal of the American Agricultural Association, volume 2, number 2, New York, N.Y.: Agricultural Review Company,[…], →OCLC, page 124
3. (intransitive, dialectal) 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; … 2 September 1758 – 5 September 1758, “A Course of Experiments and Improvements in Agriculture,[…]”, in The London Chronicle: Or, Universal Evening Post, volume IV, number 263, London: Sold by J. Wilkie,[…], →OCLC, page 219, column 1
   Then the ground is "spitted" or spaded in about six or eight inches deep, as a garden is for a crop of vegetables. 1882 May, J. Alexander Fulton, “Delaware Peach Orchards”, in Joseph H. Reall, editor, Agricultural Review and Journal of the American Agricultural Association, volume 2, number 2, New York, N.Y.: Agricultural Review Company,[…], →OCLC, page 124