Etymology

squirt

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Today it means: An instrument from which a liquid is forcefully ejected in a small, quick stream. Full definition →

First used 1839.Middle English squirten
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromsquirten
  2. English todaysquirt

From Middle English squirten, squyrten, of uncertain origin; probably onomatopoeic. Akin to swirl. Compare Low German swirtjen (“to squirt”) and Swedish water onomatopoeias skvala, skvalp, skvimpa, and skvätta; Icelandic skvetta; and Norwegian skvette. *

First known use, by meaning

  • From 1839. An annoyingly pretentious person; a whippersnapper.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.