sputter
Americanverb (used without object)
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to make explosive popping or sizzling sounds.
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to emit particles, sparks, etc., forcibly or explosively, especially accompanied by sputtering sounds.
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to eject particles of saliva, food, etc., from the mouth in a light spray, as when speaking angrily or excitedly.
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to utter or spit out words or sounds explosively or incoherently, as when angry or flustered.
verb (used with object)
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to emit (anything) forcibly and in small particles, as if by spitting.
The fire sputtered cinders.
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to eject (saliva, food, etc.) in small particles explosively and involuntarily, as in excitement.
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to utter explosively and incoherently.
noun
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the act or sound of sputtering.
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explosive, incoherent utterance.
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matter ejected in sputtering.
verb
noun
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the process or noise of sputtering
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incoherent stammering speech
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something that is ejected while sputtering
Other Word Forms
- sputterer noun
- sputteringly adverb
Etymology
Origin of sputter
1590–1600; sput- (variant of spout ) + -er 6; cognate with Dutch sputteren
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The demand is all the more surprising given that home sales—a big driver of furniture and appliance imports—are sputtering.
Eventually, the bounce lessened to a dribble, and then the dribble sputtered to a trickle, until it finally reduced back to his usual lumbering step.
From Literature
He laughed and laughed until he fell in the snow and sputtered at the cold shock.
From Literature
Whether it's been age profile, a creaking scrum, a sputtering attack, the unsettled fly-half situation or a British and Irish Lions hangover, most of the discussion has been largely negative.
From BBC
Instead, productivity growth has all but collapsed since the pandemic, and even before then was starting to sputter.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
