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Spray

 [sprey]   Origin

spray

1   [sprey]
noun
1.
water or other liquid broken up into minute droplets and blown, ejected into, or falling through the air.
2.
a jet of fine particles of liquid, as medicine, insecticide, paint, perfume, etc., discharged from an atomizer or other device for direct application to a surface.
3.
a liquid to be discharged or applied in such a jet.
4.
an apparatus or device for discharging such a liquid.
5.
a quantity of small objects, flying or discharged through the air: a spray of shattered glass.
verb (used with object)
6.
to scatter in the form of fine particles.
7.
to apply as a spray: to spray an insecticide on plants.
8.
to sprinkle or treat with a spray: to spray plants with insecticide.
9.
to direct a spray of particles, missiles, etc., upon: to spray the mob with tear gas.

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verb (used without object)
10.
to scatter spray; discharge a spray: The hose sprayed over the flowers.
11.
to issue as spray: The water sprayed from the hose.
Origin:
1615–25; < earlier Dutch spraeyen; cognate with Middle High German spræjen

Related forms
spray·a·ble, adjective
spray·a·bil·i·ty, noun
spray·er, noun
spray·less, adjective
spray·like, adjective
EXPAND
un·spray·a·ble, adjective
un·sprayed, adjective
well-sprayed, adjective
COLLAPSE
Dictionary.com Unabridged

spray

2   [sprey]
noun
1.
a single, slender shoot, twig, or branch with its leaves, flowers, or berries.
2.
a group or bunch of cut flowers, leafy twigs, etc., arranged decoratively and for display, as in a vase.
3.
an ornament having a similar form.
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English; akin to sprag1

Related forms
spray·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Spray
Collins
World English Dictionary
spray1 (spreɪ)
 
—n
1.  fine particles of a liquid
2.  a.  a liquid, such as perfume, paint, etc, designed to be discharged from an aerosol or atomizer: hair spray
 b.  the aerosol or atomizer itself
3.  a quantity of small objects flying through the air: a spray of bullets
 
—vb
4.  to scatter (liquid) in the form of fine particles
5.  to discharge (a liquid) from an aerosol or atomizer
6.  (tr) to treat or bombard with a spray: to spray the lawn
 
[C17: from Middle Dutch sprāien; related to Middle High German spræjen]
 
'sprayer1
 
—n

spray2 (spreɪ)
 
—n
1.  a single slender shoot, twig, or branch that bears buds, leaves, flowers, or berries, either growing on or detached from a plant
2.  a small decorative bouquet or corsage of flowers and foliage
3.  a piece of jewellery designed to resemble a spray of flowers, leaves, etc
 
[C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old English sprǣc young shoot, Old Norse sprek brittle wood, Old High German sprahhula splinter]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

spray
"sprinkle liquid in drops," 1527, from M.Du. sprayen, from P.Gmc. *spræwjanan (cf. Ger. sprühen "to sparkle, drizzle," Spreu "chaff," lit. "that which flies about"), from PIE base *sper- "to sow, scatter" (see sprout). The noun is attested from 1621. Spray-painting
EXPAND
is from 1902; spray-paint (v.) is from 1928.

spray
"small branch," c.1300, possibly related to O.E. spræc "shoot, twig" (see sprig).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

spray (sprā)
n.
A fine jet of liquid discharged from a pressurized container. v. sprayed, spray·ing, sprays
To disperse a liquid in a jet of droplets.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

spray definition

networking
A Unix command that sends packets to a host and reports performance statistics. The number of packets, delay between packets and packet length can all be specified. The spray command uses the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) protocol to send a one-way stream of packets to the sprayd daemon on the given host. With the "-i" option, spray uses the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) instead of RPC. Normally these will be echoed automatically, creating a return stream.
Unix manual page: spray(1M).
(2007-03-12)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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