SPEW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does spew mean? 

• SPEW (verb)
  The verb SPEW has 3 senses:

1. expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth

2. eject or send out in large quantities, also metaphorical

3. eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth

  Familiarity information: SPEW used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPEW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they spew    ... he / she / it spews   
Past simple: spewed   
Past participle: spewed   
-ing form: spewing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

ptyalise; ptyalize; spew; spit; spue

Context example:

The father of the victim spat at the alleged murderer

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

cough out; cough up; expectorate; spit out; spit up (discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence example:

The women spew water into the bowl

Sense 2

Meaning:

Eject or send out in large quantities, also metaphorical

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

eruct; spew; spew out

Context example:

The editors of the paper spew out hostile articles about the Presidential candidate

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

discharge; eject; exhaust; expel; release (eliminate (a substance))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

barf; be sick; cast; cat; chuck; disgorge; honk; puke; purge; regorge; regurgitate; retch; sick; spew; spue; throw up; upchuck; vomit; vomit up

Context example:

The patient regurgitated the food we gave him last night

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

egest; eliminate; excrete; pass (eliminate from the body)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

spewer (a person who vomits)

 Context examples 

They believe the moon must have been spewing out so much super-heated volatile gas, including water vapor, during these periods that it could have sustained life.

(Life Could Exist on Moon 4 Billion Years Ago, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The recent eruptions match past events that spewed tens of cubic miles of lava over hundreds of square miles in a short period of time.

(A Hellacious Two Weeks on Jupiter's Moon Io, NASA)

In 2005, NASA's Cassini orbiter detected jets of water vapor and dust spewing off the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

(Possible Water Plumes on Jupiter's Moon Europa, NASA)

If plumes are indeed spewing vapor from Europa's ocean or subsurface lakes, Europa Clipper could sample the frozen liquid and dust particles.

(Old Data Reveal New Evidence of Europa Plumes, NASA)

At the end of April, OSIRIS images revealed the comet was active — spewing out enough gas and dust to create an extended coma.

(Rosetta closing in on comet, NASA)

Radiation and winds coming from the most massive stars in those clouds - combined with the material spewed into space when those stars eventually explode - sometimes form bubbles like those in W40.

('Space Butterfly' Is Home to Hundreds of Baby Stars, NASA)

Magma located under areas that include the Yellowstone region and the western margin of North and South America can erupt violently, spewing vast quantities of ash into the air, followed by slower flows of glassy, viscous magma.

(Supervolcanoes like Yellowstone may have been more active in the past, NSF)

Wolf Larsen did not laugh, though his grey eyes lighted with a slight glint of amusement; and in that moment, having stepped forward quite close to him, I received my first impression of the man himself, of the man as apart from his body, and from the torrent of blasphemy I had heard him spew forth.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)