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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

spray.

A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/spɹeɪ/
  1. A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid.

    countable · uncountable
    The sailor could feel the spray from the waves.
  2. Something resembling a spray of liquid.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
  3. A pressurized container; an atomizer.

    countable
  4. Any of numerous commercial products, including paints, cosmetics, and insecticides, that are dispensed from containers in this manner.

    countable
  5. A jet of fine medicated vapour, used either as an application to a diseased part or to charge the air of a room with a disinfectant or a deodorizer.

    countable
  6. A side channel or branch of the runner of a flask, made to distribute the metal to all parts of the mold.

    countable
  7. A group of castings made in the same mold and connected by sprues formed in the runner and its branches.

    countable
  8. The allocation and filling of blocks of memory with the same byte sequence, hoping to establish that sequence in a certain predetermined location as part of an exploit.

    countable
  9. A loud scolding or reprimand, usually delivered by a sports coach or similar figure.

    Australia · countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, scatter”). Cognate with Middle High German spræjen, spræwen (“to squirt, spray, dust, splash, straw”), Danish dialectal språe (“to open up, burst forth”), Swedish dialectal språ (“to sprout, shoot forth, burst”), Norwegian dialectal spra, spræ (“to splash, splatter, spout, burst forth”), Dutch sproeien (“to spray, sprinkle”), German sprühen (“to spray, sparkle”).

verb/spɹeɪ/
  1. To project a liquid in a dispersive manner toward something.

    transitive
    The firemen sprayed the house.
    Using a water cannon, the national guard sprayed the protesters.
  2. To project in a dispersive manner.

    ergative
    Spray some ointment on that scratch.
    The water sprayed out of the hose.
  3. To project many small items dispersively.

    figuratively · transitive
  4. To urinate in order to mark territory.

    intransitive
  5. To allocate blocks of memory from (a heap, etc.), and fill them with the same byte sequence, hoping to establish that sequence in a certain predetermined location as part of an exploit.

    transitive
    to spray the heap of a target process
  6. To pass (a ball), usually laterally across the field and often a long distance.

    transitive
  7. To kick (a ball) poorly and in an unintended direction.

    transitive
  8. To give unwanted advice.

    derogatory · slang
  9. To shower guests dancing at a function with money.

    Nigeria
Where this word comes from

From Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, scatter”). Cognate with Middle High German spræjen, spræwen (“to squirt, spray, dust, splash, straw”), Danish dialectal språe (“to open up, burst forth”), Swedish dialectal språ (“to sprout, shoot forth, burst”), Norwegian dialectal spra, spræ (“to splash, splatter, spout, burst forth”), Dutch sproeien (“to spray, sprinkle”), German sprühen (“to spray, sparkle”).

noun/spɹeɪ/
  1. A small branch of flowers or berries.

    countable
    The bridesmaid carried a spray of lily-of-the-valley.
  2. A collective body of small branches.

    countable
    The tree has a beautiful spray.
  3. Branches and twigs collectively; foliage.

    uncountable
  4. An orchard.

    countable · obsolete
  5. An ornament or design that resembles a branch.

    countable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English spray, from Old English *spræġ, sprei (found in place names such as that of Spreyton, England), of unknown origin. Compare English sprig (“shoot, twig”).

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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.