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spitting image

 - 6 dictionary results

spitting image

 
Use spitting image in a Sentence
–noun Informal.
spit 1 (def. 13).
Origin:
1925–30; from the phrase spit and image (see spit 1 ) by confusion of spit and with spittin'; cf. earlier the very spit of the exact likeness of

spit

1  [spit] verb, spit or spat, spit⋅ting, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to eject saliva from the mouth; expectorate.
2. to express hatred, contempt, etc., by or as if by ejecting saliva from the mouth.
3. to sputter: grease spitting on the fire.
4. to fall in scattered drops or flakes, as rain or snow.
–verb (used with object)
5. to eject from the mouth: The children were spitting watermelon seeds over the fence.
6. to throw out or emit like saliva: The kettle spits boiling water over the stove.
7. to set a flame to.
–noun
8. saliva, esp. when ejected.
9. the act of spitting.
10. Entomology. spittle.
11. a light fall of rain or snow.
—Verb phrase
12. spit up, to vomit; throw up: The wounded soldier spat up blood. If you jostle the baby, she'll spit up.
—Idiom
13. spit and image. Also, spitting image, spit 'n' image. Informal. exact likeness; counterpart: Hunched over his desk, pen in hand, he was the spit and image of his father at work.
Origin:
bef. 950; (v.) ME spitten, OE spittan; c. G (dial.) spitzen to spit; akin to OE spǣtan to spit, spātl spittle; (n.) ME, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
spitlike, adjective

Synonyms:
3. spatter.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To spitting image
spitting image  
n.  A perfect likeness or counterpart.

[Probably from alteration of spitten, dialectal past participle of spit, the close resemblance of one person to another being likened in folk sayings to the former person having been spat out of the latter's mouth; see spit1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

spit  (v.)
"expel saliva," O.E. spittan (Anglian), spætan (W.Saxon), from PIE *sp(y)eu-, of imitative origin (see spew). Not the usual O.E. word for this; spætlan (see spittle) and spiwan (see spew) are more common. Meaning "to eject saliva (at someone or something) as a gesture of contempt" is in O.E. The noun is attested from c.1300. Meaning "the very likeness" is attested from 1602 (e.g. spitting image, attested from 1901); cf. Fr. craché in same sense. Military phrase spit and polish first recorded 1895. Spitball is from 1846 in the schoolboy sense, 1905 in the baseball sense.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2spit
Function: noun
: SALIVA
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

spitting image

A precise resemblance, especially in closely related persons. For example, Dirk is the spitting image of his grandfather. This idiom alludes to the earlier use of the noun spit for "likeness," in turn probably derived from an old proverb, "as like as one as if he had been spit out of his mouth" (c. 1400). The current idiom dates from about 1900.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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