Word.ws English Dictionary

spat

/spæt/

spat is the simple past and past participle of spit.

Noun (1)

spat (countable and uncountable, plural spats)

  1. The spawn of shellfish, especially oysters and similar molluscs.
    • As spat-fall often occurs in areas away from environments suitable for oyster growing, the collection, transport and sale of oyster spat has developed into a separate industry.2005, TVR Pillay, MN Kutty, Aquaculture: Principles and practices, page 525
    • But Orata’s oysters were, like the dormice and fish, collected in the wild, as spat.2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 243
  2. A juvenile shellfish which has attached to a hard surface.
    • Conditions in pearl oyster hatcheries are optimized for growth and survival of spat.2011, The Pearl Oyster, page 256
    • If the spat are allowed to remain attached to the tank bottom for more than two days, they are difficult to remove without damage to the shell.1988, Bivalve Mollusc Culture Research in Thailand, page 28

Noun (2)

spat (plural spats)

  1. (in plural, often) A covering or decorative covering worn over a shoe.
  2. (Australia, UK) A piece of bodywork that covers the upper portions of the rear tyres of a car.
    Synonyms:
    fender skirt
  3. A drag-reducing aerodynamic fairing covering the upper portions of the tyres of an aeroplane equipped with non-retractable landing gear.

Verb (3)

spat (third-person singular simple present spats, present participle spatting, simple past and past participle spatted)

  1. (intransitive, transitive) To strike with a spattering sound.
    • He felt the wind of a second bullet that spatted against a boulder near Barney.1922, B. M. Bower, chapter 3, in The Trail of the White Mule
    • "She mentioned she had spatted Kelsey on her diaper with a hairbrush," said Mildred Johnson, a co-worker.2007 July 13, Nolan Clay, “Co-workers testify about Kelsey's mother”, in Daily Oklahoman, retrieved 25 Aug 2009
  2. (US, dialectal) To slap, as with the open hand; to clap together, as the hands.
    • Little Isabel leaped up and down, spatting her hands.1845, Sylvester Judd, Margaret

Meaning of spit

Verb (1)

spit (third-person singular simple present spits, present participle spitting, simple past and past participle spitted)

  1. (transitive) To impale on a spit; to pierce with a sharp object.
    • to spit a loin of veal
  2. (transitive) To use a spit to cook; to attend to food that is cooking on a spit.
    • She’s spitting the roast in the kitchen.

Verb (2)

spit (third-person singular simple present spits, present participle spitting, simple past and past participle spat or spit)

  1. (ambitransitive) To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.
    • And they ſpit upon him [Jesus Christ], and tooke the reed, and ſmote him on the head.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 27:30
    Synonyms:
    expectorate
  2. (ambitransitive) To emit or expel in a manner similar to evacuating saliva from the mouth.
    • a hot pan spitting droplets of fat
  3. (impersonal) To rain or snow slightly.
    • "There! now, Strickland, I know all about what you intend to say, and therefore need not be told; but see, it spits with rain, 'tis late, Graham's turned in, let's below; […]1830, Edward Lane, The Fugitives; Or, a Trip to Canada, page 485
  4. (ambitransitive) To utter (something) violently.
    • "Why, you little emasculated Don Juan— You—" he spat an unmentionable name— "d'you think I'd fight one of your tin-soldier farces with you? Clear out!"1915, Amélie Rives (Princess Troubetzkoy), chapter XXXIX, in Shadows of Flames: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Frederick A[bbott] Stokes Company, →OCLC, page 240

See all 20 meanings of spit

Verb (1)

spat (third-person singular simple present spats, present participle spatting, simple past and past participle spatted)

  1. (ambitransitive) To spawn, used of shellfish as above.

Noun (3)

spat (plural spats)

  1. A brief argument, falling out, quarrel.
    • get into a trivial spat over punctuality
    • have a vicious spat with the cousins
    Synonyms:
    tiff

Verb (2)

spat (third-person singular simple present spats, present participle spatting, simple past and past participle spatted)

  1. (intransitive) To quarrel or argue pettily briefly.

Noun (4)

spat (plural spats)

  1. A light blow with something flat.

Noun (5)

spat (plural spats)

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

Synonyms of spat

2 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of spat

Noun
pluralspats
Verb
third-person singular presentspats
present participlespatting
past participlespatted
pastspatted

Origin of spat

From Old English spittan, spætan.

Uncertain; perhaps related to spit.

Shortening of spatterdash, from spatter + dash. 1779.

Words formed from spat

Phrases with spat

4 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with spat

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about spat

What does spat mean?
Spat means the spawn of shellfish, especially oysters and similar molluscs.
What is spat the simple past and past participle of?
Spat is the simple past and past participle of spit.
What part of speech is spat?
Spat can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce spat?
Spat is pronounced /spæt/.
What is the plural of spat?
The plural of spat is spats.

Words near spat in the dictionary

  1. spasticity
  2. spastics
  3. spastin
  4. spastins
  5. spastizin
  6. spat
  7. spat blood
  8. spat facts
  9. spat feathers
  10. spat fire
  11. spat in someone's face

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spat (page history and authors); spit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spat.wav.

Cite this entry: “spat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.