Sekirov Dictionary

splutter

UK /ˈsplʌtə/US /ˈsplʌtɚ/

verb 11
noun 5
exclamation 1
forms 5

verb11

To forcefully emit (something), especially in small drops or particles; to sputter.
Sometimes followed by out: to speak (words) hurriedly, and confusedly or unclearly.
•
To speak hurriedly, and confusedly or unclearly.
- If thou splutterest so, thou wilt drop out thy teeth; that is, if they be thine, which I for one doubt! — 1853
•
To make a sound or sounds of something forcefully emitting a substance in small drops or particles.
- So you may see Jobson on such occasions, […] puffing, strutting, and spluttering, to get the justice put in motion, […] — 1817
Followed by out: to go out (as a flame) or stop functioning (as an engine or machine) with a spluttering action or sound.
•
Of a thing: to forcefully emit something, especially in small drops or particles.
- [H]e at once stepped into the stationer's shop, and requested to be served with a sheet of the best gilt-edged letter-paper, and a hard-nibbed pen which could be warranted not to splutter. — 1836
To spray droplets of saliva from the mouth while eating or speaking.
•
Of a substance: to be emitted forcefully in small drops or particles.
- Suddenly a beautiful delf blue-and-white flower-pot, which had been set on the window-sill of an upper storey, fell to the ground with a crash, and the fragments spluttered up around my father's legs. — 1848
(figurative) To perform in an inconsistent manner to a substandard level.
•
(figurative) To direct angry words, criticism, insults, etc., at (someone or something).
- There has been much spluttering about the prince’s use of ‘Americanisms’ in a letter to Emmanuel Macron, but the truth is more complicated[.] — 2019
To soil or sprinkle (someone or something) with a substance, often a liquid; to bespatter, to spatter.

noun5

A forceful choking or spitting sound.
(figurative) Chaotic and forceful speaking, verbal exchange, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.
•
A forceful emission of something, especially in small drops or particles; a spluttering or sputtering.
- There was a flicker of matches as they were applied to the fuses, and then a splutter of sparks. An instant later it seemed as if the whole heavens had been lighted up. — 1912
•
(figurative) A noisy commotion.
- But party carries every thing nowadays, and what a splutter have I heard about the wit of that saying, repeated with admiration about a hundred times in half an hour. — 1711
(figurative) A disagreement or dispute.

exclamation1

•
(no longer used) A minced oath expressing anger or wonder, usually attributed to Welsh people: 'sblood.
- I vvill shevv him that I vvas not bred at Oxford for nothing.—Splutter! I vvill shevv him my head is good for something else besides preaching. — 1731

forms

spluttered · spluttering · spluttereth · splutters · splutterest

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