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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

spat.

The spawn of shellfish, especially oysters and similar molluscs.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/spæt/
  1. The spawn of shellfish, especially oysters and similar molluscs.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A juvenile shellfish which has attached to a hard surface.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Uncertain; perhaps related to spit.

verb/spæt/
  1. To spawn, used of shellfish as above.

    ambitransitive
Where this word comes from

Uncertain; perhaps related to spit.

noun/spæt/
  1. A covering or decorative covering worn over a shoe.

    in-plural · often
  2. A piece of bodywork that covers the upper portions of the rear tyres of a car.

    Australia · UK
  3. A drag-reducing aerodynamic fairing covering the upper portions of the tyres of an aeroplane equipped with non-retractable landing gear.

Where this word comes from

Shortening of spatterdash, from spatter + dash. 1779.

noun/spæt/
  1. A brief argument, falling out, quarrel.

    get into a trivial spat over punctuality
    have a vicious spat with the cousins
Where this word comes from

1804. American English, probably imitative.

verb/spæt/
  1. To quarrel or argue pettily briefly.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

1804. American English, probably imitative.

noun/spæt/
  1. A light blow with something flat.

Where this word comes from

Attested from 1823.

verb/spæt/
  1. To strike with a spattering sound.

    intransitive · transitive
  2. To slap, as with the open hand; to clap together, as the hands.

    US · dialectal
Where this word comes from

Attested from 1823.

noun/spæt/
  1. An obsolete unit of distance in astronomy (symbol S), equal to one billion kilometres.

Where this word comes from

From Latin spatium (“space”).

verb/spæt/
  1. simple past and past participle of spit

    form-of · participle · past
    There was no sink in the room so we spat out the window.
    If I had known you had a spittoon in the corner I would never have spat on the floor.
Where this word comes from

From Old English spittan, spætan.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.