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spew

C2
Uncommon

Pronunciation

UK

  • /spjˈuː/

US

  • /ˈspju/

Meanings

Verb

  1. to shoot or pour out in large amounts, often forcefully or messily

  2. to vomit forcefully

  3. to pour out words, abuse, or opinions rapidly and forcefully

Beyond the definition

Imagine a volcano: it spews lava. That is the heart of this word: something comes out fast, with force, and often in a messy way. People often use it for vomiting, but it also works for things like a broken pipe spewing water or an angry person spewing insults. It is not a gentle word.

The context matters. You would not usually say someone "spewed" a careful opinion, but you might say a machine "spewed" out bad products. The word usually suggests little control and a strong, unpleasant burst outward.

Examples

  1. 1

    Plumbing accident

    The burst pipe was spewing water across the kitchen floor.

  2. 2

    Vomiting

    One of the passengers leaned out of the car and spewed onto the road.

  3. 3

    Machine output

    The old printer kept spewing out blank pages.

    • Patternspew out + things

      produce or send out a lot of them very quickly

  4. 4

    Angry speech

    He stormed away, spewing insults at everyone around him.

    • Patternspew insults at + person

      say a lot of angry words to that person

More examples
  1. 5

    Misinformation

    Critics say the site is spewing misinformation all over social media.

See also

Similar

Shades of meaning

Contrast

Used with (collocations)

  • spew out
  • spew smoke
  • spew lava
  • spew hatred

Word family

Explore

Forms and spellings

4 forms open this card.

Main spelling

  • spewverb

Forms

  • spewing-ing formverb
  • spewedpast tenseverb
  • spewsverb