English Dictionary |
SPOUT
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
IPA (US): |
Dictionary entry overview: What does spout mean?
• SPOUT (noun)
The noun SPOUT has 1 sense:
1. an opening that allows the passage of liquids or grain
Familiarity information: SPOUT used as a noun is very rare.
• SPOUT (verb)
The verb SPOUT has 2 senses:
1. gush forth in a sudden stream or jet
2. talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner
Familiarity information: SPOUT used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
An opening that allows the passage of liquids or grain
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spout" is a kind of...):
opening (a vacant or unobstructed space that is man-made)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spout"):
gargoyle (a spout that terminates in a grotesquely carved figure of a person or animal)
nose; nozzle (a projecting spout from which a fluid is discharged)
Holonyms ("spout" is a part of...):
pipage; pipe; piping (a long tube made of metal or plastic that is used to carry water or oil or gas etc.)
watering can; watering pot (a container with a handle and a spout with a perforated nozzle; used to sprinkle water over plants)
Derivation:
spout (gush forth in a sudden stream or jet)
Conjugation: |
Past simple: spouted
Past participle: spouted
-ing form: spouting
Sense 1
Meaning:
Gush forth in a sudden stream or jet
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
Context example:
water gushed forth
Hypernyms (to "spout" is one way to...):
pour (flow in a spurt)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spout"):
pump (flow intermittently)
blow (spout moist air from the blowhole)
whoosh (gush or squirt out)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Derivation:
spout (an opening that allows the passage of liquids or grain)
spouter (a spouting whale)
spouter (an oil well that is spouting)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
jabber; mouth off; rabbit on; rant; rave; spout
Hypernyms (to "spout" is one way to...):
mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Derivation:
spouter (an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker)
Context examples
I noticed blood spouting from Kerfoot’s left hand.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
I lay upon my face and peered over with the spray spouting up all around me.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Scientists also have been eager to find out if Dione has geologic activity, like Saturn's geyser-spouting moon Enceladus, but at a much lower level.
(Cassini to Make Last Close Flyby of Saturn Moon Dione, NASA)
"But I didn't come here to spout philosophy," Kreis went on.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
These jets then spout from the black hole in a spectacular galactic fountain.
(ALMA and MUSE Detect Galactic Fountain, ESO)
Their breath froze in the air as it left their mouths, spouting forth in spumes of vapour that settled upon the hair of their bodies and formed into crystals of frost.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
He held it up with a perfect spout of oaths.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
He sprang at the foremost man (it was the chief of the Yeehats), ripping the throat wide open till the rent jugular spouted a fountain of blood.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
Through the belly of a great black wave, not one hundred paces to the front of them, there thrust forth a huge jagged mass of brown stone, which spouted spray as though it were some crouching monster, while a dull menacing boom and roar filled the air.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was not a trifling business to get the great umbrella up, and properly balanced in her grasp; but at last I successfully accomplished this, and saw it go bobbing down the street through the rain, without the least appearance of having anybody underneath it, except when a heavier fall than usual from some over-charged water-spout sent it toppling over, on one side, and discovered Miss Mowcher struggling violently to get it right.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Learn English with... Proverbs |
"At night one takes eels, it is worth waiting sometimes" (Breton proverb)
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"That which is written in Heaven, comes to pass on Earth." (Corsican proverb)