Spat
/spæt/
Spat is the past tense of spit, meaning to eject from the mouth, or refers to a young oyster or its shell.
Examples
- The conservation project focused on settling spat on clean shells.
- Fishermen collected the spat to grow in oyster beds.
- He spat on the ground to show his contempt.
- She spat out the bitter food immediately.
- These spat will mature in about a year.
Meanings
Derived from Old English spittan, which evolved into Middle English spitten. The form spat emerged as an irregular past tense variant of spit, modeled after verbs like sit → sat.
Examples
- He spat on the ground to show his contempt.
- She spat out the bitter food immediately.
- The dragon spat fire at the knight.
- They spat insults at each other during the argument.
- I spat the gum out when I realized it was stale.
From Dutch spat, meaning a small young oyster. Entered English in the 19th century as a term in oyster farming and marine ecology.
Examples
- The reef was covered in oyster spat.
- Fishermen collected the spat to grow in oyster beds.
- These spat will mature in about a year.
- The conservation project focused on settling spat on clean shells.
- Divers checked the mesh bags for new spat.