| / English Dictionary |
SPAT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: spatted , spatting
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A young oyster or other bivalve
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("spat" is a kind of...):
offspring; young (any immature animal)
Holonyms ("spat" is a member of...):
Bivalvia; class Bivalvia; class Lamellibranchia; class Pelecypoda; Lamellibranchia (oysters; clams; scallops; mussels)
Derivation:
spat (spawn)
spat (become permanently attached)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A cloth covering (a legging) that covers the instep and ankles
Synonyms:
gaiter; spat
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spat" is a kind of...):
leg covering; legging; leging (a garment covering the leg (usually extending from the knee to the ankle))
Sense 3
Meaning:
A quarrel about petty points
Synonyms:
bicker; bickering; fuss; pettifoggery; spat; squabble; tiff
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("spat" is a kind of...):
dustup; quarrel; row; run-in; words; wrangle (an angry dispute)
Derivation:
spat (engage in a brief and petty quarrel)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Clap one's hands together
Example:
The children were clapping to the music
Synonyms:
clap; spat
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):
gesticulate; gesture; motion (show, express or direct through movement)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Sense 2
Meaning:
Spawn
Example:
oysters spat
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):
spawn (lay spawn)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Derivation:
spat (a young oyster or other bivalve)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Engage in a brief and petty quarrel
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):
altercate; argufy; dispute; quarrel; scrap (have a disagreement over something)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Sentence examples:
Sam and Sue spat
Sam wants to spat with Sue
Derivation:
spat (a quarrel about petty points)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Clap one's hands or shout after performances to indicate approval
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):
gesticulate; gesture; motion (show, express or direct through movement)
"Spat" entails doing...:
approve; O.K.; okay; sanction (give sanction to)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spat"):
bravo (applaud with shouts of 'bravo' or 'brava')
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Sense 5
Meaning:
Strike with a sound like that of falling rain
Example:
Bullets were spatting the leaves
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):
collide with; hit; impinge on; run into; strike (hit against; come into sudden contact with)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Sense 6
Meaning:
Become permanently attached
Example:
mollusks or oysters spat
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):
attach (become attached)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Derivation:
spat (a young oyster or other bivalve)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Come down like raindrops
Example:
Bullets were spatting down on us
Classified under:
Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering
Hypernyms (to "spat" is one way to...):
come down; fall; precipitate (fall from clouds)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Context examples:
There was much laughter and clapping of glasses upon the table at the conclusion of old Buckhorse’s story, and I saw the Prince of Wales hand something to the waiter, who brought it round and slipped it into the skinny hand of the veteran, who spat upon it before thrusting it into his pocket.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And he turned his quid and spat.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
At this the robber ran back as fast as he could to his comrades, and told the captain how a horrid witch had got into the house, and had spat at him and scratched his face with her long bony fingers; how a man with a knife in his hand had hidden himself behind the door, and stabbed him in the leg; how a black monster stood in the yard and struck him with a club, and how the devil had sat upon the top of the house and cried out, Throw the rascal up here!
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
A maid began opening the upper windows of his house, appeared momentarily in each, and, leaning from a large central bay, spat meditatively into the garden.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
With fenders spread like wings we scattered light through half Astoria—only half, for as we twisted among the pillars of the elevated I heard the familiar "jug—jug—spat!" of a motor cycle, and a frantic policeman rode alongside.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
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