spatting

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.

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.

   Synonyms:

   tiff, squabble, barney, bicker, quarrel, wrangle, argue, tift, quibble, row

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
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

See all 12 meanings of spat