Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Spittle |
SpittleNoun1. A clear liquid secreted into the mouth by the salivary glands and mucous glands of the mouth; moistens the mouth and starts the digestion of starches. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "spittle" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references) |
Note: Spittle \Spit"tle\, noun. [From Spitto eject from the mouth: compare to Spattle, and Anglo-Saxon sp[=a]tl.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Spittle or ~~~Spital. Spital. An hospital. "A spittle or hospital for poore folks diseased a spittle, hospitall, or lazarhouse for lepers" $$$ (1580). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: SpittleSynonyms: saliva (n), spit (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Excretion | Saliva, spittle, rheum; ptyalism, salivation, catarrh; diarrhoea; ejecta, egesta, sputa; excreta; lava; exuviae; (uncleanness). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Spittle |
| English words defined with "spittle": Beslobber, Bespawl, Bespit ♦ Cuckoo spit, Cuckoo spittle ♦ Frounce ♦ Homoptera ♦ Spattle, Spet, Spitbox, Spittly, Spit-venom, suborder Homoptera. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "spittle": Controversy ♦ Gleipnir ♦ Lickspittle ♦ Spittle Sermons. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "spittle": Bespawl ♦ Ptyalin, Ptyalism, Ptyalogogue, Ptysmagogue ♦ Spit-venom, Spot. (references) |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | CONTROVERSY, n. A battle in which spittle or ink replaces the injurious cannon-ball and the inconsiderate bayonet. In controversy with the facile tongue -- That bloodless warfare of the old and young -- So seek your adversary to engage That on himself he shall exhaust his rage, And, like a snake that's fastened to the ground, With his own fangs inflict the fatal wound. You ask me how this miracle is done? Adopt his own opinions, one by one, And taunt him to refute them; in his wrath He'll sweep them pitilessly from his path. Advance then gently all you wish to prove, Each proposition prefaced with, "As you've So well remarked," or, "As you wisely say, And I cannot dispute," or, "By the way, This view of it which, better far expressed, Runs through your argument." Then leave the rest To him, secure that he'll perform his trust And prove your views intelligent and just. Conmore Apel Brune |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Spittle" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 71.43% of the time. "Spittle" is used about 63 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 71.43% | 45 | 50,900 |
| Noun (proper) | 26.98% | 17 | 85,106 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 1.59% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 63 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "spittle" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Spittle | Last name | 170 | 49,271 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "spittle": Cuckoo spittle ♦ frog spittle ♦ spittle insect ♦ To lick the spittle of ♦ Toad spittle. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "spittle": spittle-bug, spittle-bugs, spittle-licking. | |
Ending with "spittle": Lick-spittle. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
bug spittle | 80 |
spittle | 21 |
bug control spittle | 4 |
bug pine spittle | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "spittle"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | pështymë (saliva, spit, sputum), jargë (drivel, drool, froth, slaver, slime, slobber). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | لعاب (dribble, saliva, slaver, slobber, spit), إفراز بصاقي, ريق (saliva, slaver), رضاب (saliva). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | храчка (expectoration, gob, spit, sputum), плюнка (expectoration, saliva, spit, sputum). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 痰 (phlegm), 漦 (go with current, mucus), "沫. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | sliny (spit), slina (saliva, slaver, slobber, spit), plivanec (gob, spit), chrchel (gob, sputum). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | spyt (saliva), saliva (saliva). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | speeksel (saliva). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | مایع مترشحه ازغددبزاقی , تف (Spit, Sputum), اب دهان (Saliva, Slaver, Slobber, Spit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | sylki (expectoration, saliva, sputum). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | salive (spit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Speichel (saliva). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | σάλιο (saliva, slaver), σίελος (saliva), πτύσμα (spit, sputum), πτύελο (sputum), φτύνα. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | כיח (hawk, mucus, phlegm), ריר (dribble, saliva, spit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | köpet (expectoration, gob, spit, sputum), nyál (drivel, drool, gob, saliva, spit), köpés (expectoration, spit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | ngiler (slobber), ludah (saliva), bura (spit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | saliva (saliva, spit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | smug (blubber of jellyfish, catarrh, mucus, snot, spit), shelley (expectorate, expectoration, phlegm, saliva, slaver, spit, sputum). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ittlespay saliva (dribble, gob, rheum, saliva, spit, sputum). (various references) scuipat (drivel, gob, slaver, slobber, spit), scuipãturã (spit), salivã (drivel, gob, saliva, slaver, slobber, spit), expectoraţie (expectoration, spit). (various references) слюна (saliva, slaver, sputum), плевок (gob, spit). (various references) smug (phlegm, snot), sile (See <A HREF="mf10.html#seile">seile</A>), seile (placenta, saliva), ronn (a slaver, slaver). (various references) pljuvanje (spit, spitting), pljuvačka (saliva, slaver). (various references) saliva (saliva, spit). (various references) spott (expectoration, saliva, scorn). (various references) salya (dribble, saliva, salivary, slaver, slobber, spit, sputum), tükürük (gob, saliva, salivary, spit, sputum). (various references) tьяkьlik (saliva). (various references) слина (drivel, saliva, slaver, slobber, sputum, water), копати лопатою (spade), лопата (banjo, shovel, spade), плюватися (spit), плювати (gob, spit). (various references) nước bọt (saliva). (various references) poeryn, poer (saliva, spit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | uh, u. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | saliva, salivae, salivam. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | John Chapter 9, Verse 6 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Tauta eipwn eptusen camai kai epoihsen phlon ek tou ptusmatoV kai epecrisen ton phlon epi touV ofqalmouV tou tuflou |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Haec cum dixisset expuit in terram et fecit lutum ex sputo et linuit lutum super oculos eius |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Ða he þas þing sægde. þa spette he onða eorðen & worhte fenn of hys spatle ændsmerede mid þa fenne ofer hys eagen. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | Whanne he hadde seid these thingis, he spette in to the erthe, and made cley of the spotil, and anoyntide the cley on hise iyen, |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | Assone as he had thus spoken he spate on the grounde and made claye of the spetle and rubbed the claye on the eyes of the blynde |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | When he had thus spoken, he spit on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Having said these words, he put earth, mixed with water from his mouth, on the man's eyes, |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | John Chapter 9, Verse 6 |
| Cebuano | Sa pagsulti niya niini, siya miluwa sa yuta ug nagmasa siyag lapok ginamit ang laway, ug iyang gihidhiran sa lapok ang mga mata sa buta, |
| Croatian | To rekavši, pljune na zemlju i od pljuvaèke naèini kal pa mu kalom premaza oèi. |
| Danish | Da han havde sagt dette, spyttede han på Jorden og gjorde Dynd af Spyttet og smurte Dyndet på hans Øjne. |
| Dutch | Dit gezegd hebbende, spoog Hij op de aarde, en maakte slijk uit dat speeksel, en streek dat slijk op de ogen des blinden; |
| Finnish | Tämän sanottuaan hän sylki maahan ja teki syljestä tahtaan ja siveli tahtaan hänen silmilleen |
| French | Après avoir dit cela, il cracha terre, et fit de la boue avec sa salive. Puis il appliqua cette boue sur les yeux de l`aveugle, |
| German | Da er solches gesagt, spützte er auf die Erde und machte einen Kot aus dem Speichel und schmierte den Kot auf des Blinden Augen |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Setelah berkata begitu Yesus meludah ke tanah, dan mengaduk ludah-Nya itu dengan tanah. Kemudian Ia mengoleskannya pada mata orang itu, |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Setelah Ia berkata demikian, lalu Ia berludah ke tanah, serta membuat tanah itu lembik dengan ludah-Nya, disapukan-Nya tanah lembik itu kepada mata orang buta itu, |
| Maori | Ka mutu enei korero ana, ka tuwha ia ki te whenua, a pokepokea ana tetahi paru ki te huware, pania atu ana te paru ki nga kanohi o te matapo, |
| Norwegian | Da han hadde sagt dette, spyttet han på jorden og gjorde en deig av spyttet og smurte deigen på hans øine. |
| Portuguese | Dito isto, cuspiu no chão e com a saliva fez lodo, e untou com lodo os olhos do cego, |
| Rumanian | Dupq ce a zis aceste vorbe, a scuipat pe pqmknt wi a fqcut tinq din scuipat. Apoi a uns ochii orbului cu tina aceasta, |
| Russian | уЛБЪБЧ ЬФП, пО МАОХМ ОБ ЪЕНМА, У"ЕМБМ 'ТЕОЙЕ ЙЪ МАОПЧЕОЙС Й ПНБЪБМ 'ТЕОЙЕН ЗМБЪБ УМЕ ПНХ, |
| Shuar | Nuna chichas Nunká usukmi nunkajai pachimiar kusuru jiin yakarmiayi. |
| Swahili | Baada ya kusema hayo, akatema mate chini, akafanyiza tope, akampaka yule kipofu machoni, |
| Swedish | När han hade sagt detta, spottade han på jorden och gjorde en deg av spotten och lade degen på mannens ögon |
| Uma | Ka'oti-na mololita hewa toe, na'uelikui-mi tana', nagalo hante tana' hangkedi' bona morege', nagelai' -ki mata-na towero toei, |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "spittle": spittlebug, spittlebugs, spittles. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "spittle": lickspittle. (additional references) | |
Words containing "spittle": lickspittles. (additional references) | |
| |
"Spittle" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: pittel, pittle, Sittelle, spette, Spiddal, spiddle, spintle, spittles, spottle. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "spittle" (pronounced spi"tul) |
| 4 | -i" t u l | acquittal, belittle, brittle, committal, Kittel, Kittle, little, noncommittal, skittle, tittle, transmittal, vittle, Whittle. |
| 3 | -t u l | accidental, anecdotal, artiodactyl, battle, beetle, betel, bicoastal, bottle, brattle, Bristol, brutal, butyl, Cantle, capital, Capitol, cattle, chattel, chortle, coastal, coincidental, compartmental, congenital, consonantal, continental, crustal, crystal, dental, detrimental, developmental, digital, disgruntle, dismantle, distal, ductile, elemental, embattle, entitle, environmental, experimental, extramarital, fatal, fertile, fetal, fractal, frontal, fundamental, futile, genital, gentle, glottal, governmental, horizontal, hospital, hostel, hostile, hurtle, immortal, immotile, incidental, incremental, infantile, infertile, instrumental, intercontinental, intergovernmental, judgmental, kettle, lentil, lintel, mantel, mantle, marital, mental, metal, mettle, monumental, mortal, motile, Myrtle, Natal, neonatal, nettle, nonfatal, nongovernmental, nonvolatile, occidental, occipital, orbital, oriental, ornamental, parental, parietal, pedestal, periodontal, petal, Pistil, pistol, pivotal, portal, postal, postnatal, Pottle, prattle, prefrontal, premarital, prenatal, projectile, quintal, rattle, rebuttal, recital, rectal, regimental, rental, resettle, scuttle, sentimental, settle, shuttle, skeletal, societal, startle, subtitle, subtle, supplemental, tactile, tattle, temperamental, throttle, title, tootle, total, transcendental, transcontinental, turtle, unsentimental, unsettle, unsubtle, varietal, vegetal, versatile, vestal, vital, volatile, Wintle. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-i-l-p-s-t-t" | |
-1 letter: stipel, titles. | |
-2 letters: islet, istle, pelts, petit, petti, piles, piste, plies, slept, slipe, slipt, speil, spelt, spiel, spile, spilt, spite, split, stile, stilt, stipe, tiles, tilts, title. | |
-3 letters: isle, leis, lept, lest, lets, lies, lipe, lips, lisp, list, lite, lits, pelt, pest, pets, pies, pile, pits, plie, sept, sett, silt, sipe, site, slip. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-i-l-p-s-t-t" | |
+1 letter: platiest, plotties, politest, spittles, splitter, triplets. | |
+2 letters: multistep, paltriest, pastelist, pestilent, pettishly, plottiest, portliest, splitters, stipulate, tinplates, triplites. | |
+3 letters: asphaltite, battleship, completist, epiglottis, multiplets, paillettes, palmitates, palpitates, pastelists, pastellist, pistillate, plaintexts, platitudes, polytheist, potentials, spittlebug, stipulated, stipulates. | |
+4 letters: antileptons, asphaltites, battleships, capitulates, cataleptics, completists, fieldstript, graptolites, interplants, kinetoplast, lickspittle, lithophytes, metaplastic, palatinates, pastellists, paternalist, peristaltic, pestilently, petrologist, philatelist, pitifullest, plentitudes, poltergeist, polytheists, potentillas, priestliest, protostelic, quintuplets, resplitting, spittlebugs, splattering, splotchiest, spluttering, spotlighted, telepathies, telephonist, tetraploids, thiopentals, toploftiest, tripletails, triplicates. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Images: Slideshow | 5. Quotations: Non-fiction 6. Usage Frequency 7. Names: Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Bible Trace | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
