Sputter

/ˈspʌtɚ/ · noun

Meaning

Moist matter thrown out in small detached particles..

Definitions by Sense

1. Moist matter thrown out in small detached particles.
2. Confused and hasty speech.
3. (intransitive) To emit saliva or spit from the mouth in small, scattered portions, as in rapid speaking.
4. (ambitransitive) To speak so rapidly as to emit saliva; to utter words hastily and indistinctly, with a spluttering sound, as in rage.
5. (ambitransitive) To throw out anything, as little jets of steam, with a noise like that made by one sputtering.
6. (physics, intransitive) To cause surface atoms or electrons of a solid to be ejected by bombarding it with heavy atoms or ions.
7. (physics, transitive) To coat the surface of an object by sputtering.

Example Sentences

The child [...] kicked, and crowed, and sputtered, when his mother took him, and put up his little fingers to clutch her hair, and was to her as a young god upon the earth. Nothing in the world had ever been created so beautiful, so joyous, so satisfactory, so divine!

They could neither of them speak their rage, and so fell a sputtering at one another, like two roasting apples.

In the midst of caresses, and without the least pretended incitement, to sputter out the basest and falsest accusations.

Like the green wood [...] sputtering in the flame.

Synonyms for sputter

Antonyms for sputter

Related Words

Word Forms

• sputters
• sputtering
• sputtered

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

Practice and Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions