sputter

[ spuht-er ]
See synonyms for: sputtersputtering on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)
  1. to make explosive popping or sizzling sounds.

  2. to emit particles, sparks, etc., forcibly or explosively, especially accompanied by sputtering sounds.

  1. to eject particles of saliva, food, etc., from the mouth in a light spray, as when speaking angrily or excitedly.

  2. to utter or spit out words or sounds explosively or incoherently, as when angry or flustered.

verb (used with object)
  1. to emit (anything) forcibly and in small particles, as if by spitting: The fire sputtered cinders.

  2. to eject (saliva, food, etc.) in small particles explosively and involuntarily, as in excitement.

  1. to utter explosively and incoherently.

noun
  1. the act or sound of sputtering.

  2. explosive, incoherent utterance.

  1. matter ejected in sputtering.

Origin of sputter

1
1590–1600; sput- (variant of spout) + -er6; cognate with Dutch sputteren

Other words from sputter

  • sput·ter·er, noun
  • sput·ter·ing·ly, adverb

Words Nearby sputter

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sputter in a sentence

  • The veranda, roofless and open to the bitter blue sky where the seasonal gu rains sputter, serves as a makeshift neonatal ward.

  • She glanced uneasily at Gwynne and fancied she could hear him slam the lid of his breeding upon a supercilious sputter.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • She laughed so hard that she blew the ashes out of her pipe, and they showered down over my face, and made me wink and sputter.

  • Welcome worked the requisite levers, the machine began to sputter, and the boys gave it a shove.

  • With a wheezy sputter, it stopped dead, refusing to answer the frantic twists Perry gave the handle-bars.

  • Then all they'll do is buzz and sputter until the feedback is broken with the key.

    Meeting of the Board | Alan Edward Nourse

British Dictionary definitions for sputter

sputter

/ (ˈspʌtə) /


verb
  1. physics

    • to undergo or cause to undergo a process in which atoms of a solid are removed from its surface by the impact of high-energy ions, as in a discharge tube

    • to coat (a film of a metal) onto (a solid surface) by using this process

noun
  1. the process or noise of sputtering

  2. incoherent stammering speech

  1. something that is ejected while sputtering

Origin of sputter

1
C16: from Dutch sputteren, of imitative origin

Derived forms of sputter

  • sputterer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012