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sputtering |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Sputter \Sput"ter\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Sputtered}; p. pr & vb n. {Sputtering}.] [From the root of spout or spit to eject from the mputh. Cf {Splutter}.] 1. To spit, or to emit saliva from the mouth in small scattered portions, as in rapid speaking. 2. To utter words hastily and indistinctly; to speak so rapidly as to emit saliva. They could neither of them speak their rage, and so fell a sputtering at one another, like two roasting apples. --Congreve. 3. To throw out anything as little jets of steam, with a noise like that made by one sputtering. Like the green wood . . . sputtering in the flame. --Dryden. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: sputtering adj : emitting or making sporadic spitting or popping sounds; "the sputtering engine"; "spluttering electric arcs" [syn: {spluttering}] n : the noise of something spattering or sputtering explosively; "he heard a spatter of gunfire" [syn: {spatter}, {spattering}, {splatter}, {splattering}, {sputter}, {splutter}]
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