SPATTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does spatter mean? 

• SPATTER (noun)
  The noun SPATTER has 2 senses:

1. the noise of something spattering or sputtering explosively

2. the act of splashing a (liquid) substance on a surface

  Familiarity information: SPATTER used as a noun is rare.

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

1. dash a liquid upon or against

2. rain gently

3. spot, splash, or soil

  Familiarity information: SPATTER used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPATTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The noise of something spattering or sputtering explosively

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

spatter; spattering; splatter; splattering; splutter; sputter; sputtering

Context example:

he heard a spatter of gunfire

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

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of splashing a (liquid) substance on a surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

spatter; spattering; splash; splashing; splattering

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

painting (the act of applying paint to a surface)

Derivation:

spatter (dash a liquid upon or against)

spatter (spot, splash, or soil)

• SPATTER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they spatter    ... he / she / it spatters   
Past simple: spattered   
Past participle: spattered   
-ing form: spattering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Dash a liquid upon or against

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

plash; spatter; splash; splatter; splosh; swash

Context example:

The mother splashed the baby's face with water

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

disperse; dot; dust; scatter; sprinkle (distribute loosely)

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

puddle (make a puddle by splashing water)

slosh; slosh around; slush; slush around (spill or splash copiously or clumsily)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody with something
Somebody ----s something with something

Derivation:

spatter; spattering (the act of splashing a (liquid) substance on a surface)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Rain gently

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

patter; pitter-patter; spatter; spit; sprinkle

Context example:

It has only sprinkled, but the roads are slick

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

rain; rain down (precipitate as rain)

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Sense 3

Meaning:

Spot, splash, or soil

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bespatter; spatter

Context example:

The baby spattered the bib with food

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

blob; blot; fleck; spot (make a spot or mark onto)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They spatter the bread with melted butter

Derivation:

spatter (the act of splashing a (liquid) substance on a surface)

 Context examples 

The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Broad and ungainly, she floundered from wave to wave, dipping her round bows deeply into the blue rollers, and sending the white flakes of foam in a spatter over her decks.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As the driver pulled up his foam-spattered horse, he threw the reins to his companion, sprang from his seat, butted furiously into the crowd, and then an instant afterwards up went the hat which told of his challenge and defiance.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The behaviour of this lava lake alternated between phases of fiery ‘spattering’ powered by large gas bubbles bursting through the magma, and more gentle gas release, accompanied by slow and steady motion of the lava.

(Size matters: if you are a bubble of volcanic gas, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Scientists are eager to learn if the reddish-brown fractures, and other markings spattered across the surface, contain clues about the geological history of Europa and the chemistry of the global ocean that is thought to exist beneath the ice.

(NASA Issues 'Remastered' View of Jupiter's Moon Europa, NASA)

After a good day’s killing I have seen our decks covered with hides and bodies, slippery with fat and blood, the scuppers running red; masts, ropes, and rails spattered with the sanguinary colour; and the men, like butchers plying their trade, naked and red of arm and hand, hard at work with ripping and flensing-knives, removing the skins from the pretty sea-creatures they had killed.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)