SPAT (spatted, spatting)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: spatted    , spatting   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does spat mean? 

• SPAT (noun)
  The noun SPAT has 3 senses:

1. a quarrel about petty points

2. a cloth covering (a legging) that covers the instep and ankles

3. a young oyster or other bivalve

  Familiarity information: SPAT used as a noun is uncommon.

• SPAT (verb)
  The verb SPAT has 7 senses:

1. come down like raindrops

2. become permanently attached

3. strike with a sound like that of falling rain

4. clap one's hands or shout after performances to indicate approval

5. engage in a brief and petty quarrel

6. spawn

7. clap one's hands together

  Familiarity information: SPAT used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPAT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A quarrel about petty points

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

bicker; bickering; fuss; pettifoggery; spat; squabble; tiff

Hypernyms ("spat" is a kind of...):

dustup; quarrel; row; run-in; words; wrangle (an angry dispute)

Derivation:

spat (engage in a brief and petty quarrel)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A cloth covering (a legging) that covers the instep and ankles

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

gaiter; spat

Hypernyms ("spat" is a kind of...):

leg covering; legging; leging (a garment covering the leg (usually extending from the knee to the ankle))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A young oyster or other bivalve

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("spat" is a kind of...):

offspring; young (any immature animal)

Holonyms ("spat" is a member of...):

Bivalvia; class Bivalvia; class Lamellibranchia; class Pelecypoda; Lamellibranchia (oysters; clams; scallops; mussels)

Derivation:

spat (spawn)

spat (become permanently attached)

• SPAT (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Come down like raindrops

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Context example:

Bullets were spatting down on us

Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):

come down; fall; precipitate (fall from clouds)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become permanently attached

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

mollusks or oysters spat

Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):

attach (become attached)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

spat (a young oyster or other bivalve)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Strike with a sound like that of falling rain

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

Bullets were spatting the leaves

Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):

collide with; hit; impinge on; run into; strike (hit against; come into sudden contact with)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Clap one's hands or shout after performances to indicate approval

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

acclaim; applaud; clap; spat

Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):

gesticulate; gesture; motion (show, express or direct through movement)

"Spat" entails doing...:

approve; O.K.; okay; sanction (give sanction to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spat"):

bravo (applaud with shouts of 'bravo' or 'brava')

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Engage in a brief and petty quarrel

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):

altercate; argufy; dispute; quarrel; scrap (have a disagreement over something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue spat
Sam wants to spat with Sue

Derivation:

spat (a quarrel about petty points)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Spawn

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

oysters spat

Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):

spawn (lay spawn)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

spat (a young oyster or other bivalve)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Clap one's hands together

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

clap; spat

Context example:

The children were clapping to the music

Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):

gesticulate; gesture; motion (show, express or direct through movement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

If all these people came in a body and spat at me, what would you do, Jane?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But the cat, not understanding this joke, sprang at his face, and spat, and scratched at him.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Then he spat into the spring.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

At the sight of it, he spat into the hole.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

And it was all done long ago; it was work performed, I tell you, when you spat upon me as the dirt under your feet.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

There were no more spats and squabbles, no more tiny rages nor attempts at growling; while the adventures toward the far white wall ceased altogether.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Yet his time came, in the end, in the form of a little weazened man who spat broken English and many strange and uncouth exclamations which Buck could not understand.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

As he made the demand he spat out a mouthful of blood and teeth and shoved his pugnacious face close to Oofty-Oofty.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

From his spats to his gold-rimmed spectacles he was a Conservative, a churchman, a good citizen, orthodox and conventional to the last degree.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Jo groaned and leaned both elbows on the table in a despondent attitude, but Amy spatted away energetically, and Beth, who sat at the other window, said, smiling, Two pleasant things are going to happen right away.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)