Meanings
spittle1
plural spittles
- countableuncountableSpit, usually frothy and of a milky coloration.
"Who are you?!" he blurted into the woman's palm, and she shook it off in obvious disgust, wiping spittle onto his D-class uniform.
2023 September 30, HarryBlank, “Meeting in the Middle”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 25 May 2024
spittle2
plural spittles
- alternativearchaiccountableuncountableAlternative form of spital.
I'll build a spittle, or mend common ways […]
a. 1633, George Herbert, The Thanksgiving
spittle3
present singular third person spittles · participle present spittling · participle past spittled · past spittled
Spittle4
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna clear liquid secreted into the mouth by the salivary glands and mucous glands of the mouth; moistens the mouth and starts the digestion of starches
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
spittle · noun
- Old Englishspātl
- Englishspittle
Alteration of dialectal spattle (by association with spit (noun)), from Old English spātl, which is related to spǣtan (whence spit (verb)).
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →spittle · noun, verb
Representing a frequentative form of spit (“a spade's depth”), equivalent to spit + -le.
Full word history & related roots →Spittle · proper noun
- Middle High Germanspital“hospital”
- GermanSpittel
- Middle Englishspitel“lodging house”
- EnglishSpittle
Two main origins: * From Middle English spitel (“lodging house”), an occupational surname for someone who was employed at a lodging house. * Americanized spelling of German Spittel, a metonymic occupational surname for someone who worked in an infirmary, from Middle High German spital (“hospital”).
More words from Middle English, German, Middle High German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek σίαλον
- σίαλον (síalon)spit, usually frothy
Bulgarian плюнка, храчка
- плюнка (pljunka)spit, usually frothy
- храчка (hračka)spit, usually frothy
Catalan escopinada
- escopinadaspit, usually frothy
Chinese Mandarin 吐沫
- 吐沫 (tùmo)spit, usually frothy
Czech slina, plivanec
- slinaspit, usually frothy
- plivanecspit, usually frothy
Finnish sylki
- sylkispit, usually frothy
French crachat, postillon
- crachatspit, usually frothy
- postillonspit, usually frothy
German Spucke
- Spuckespit, usually frothy
Greek ροχάλα
- ροχάλα (rochála)spit, usually frothy
Hungarian köpet, nyál
- köpetspit, usually frothy
- nyálspit, usually frothy
Irish seile
- seilespit, usually frothy
Italian sputo
- sputospit, usually frothy
Japanese 唾
- 唾spit, usually frothy
Korean 침
- 침 (chim)spit, usually frothy
Latvian spļāviens, spļaudekļi
- spļāviensspit, usually frothy
- spļaudekļispit, usually frothy
- siekalasspit, usually frothy
Persian تف, بفچ
- تف (tof)spit, usually frothy
- بفچ (bafč)spit, usually frothy
Portuguese cuspe
- cuspespit, usually frothy
Romanian scuipat
- scuipatspit, usually frothy
Russian слюна́, плево́к
- слюна́ (sljuná)spit, usually frothy
- плево́к (plevók)spit, usually frothy
Scottish Gaelic seile, ronn
- seilespit, usually frothy
- ronnspit, usually frothy
Spanish escupida, escupitajo
- escupidaspit, usually frothy
- escupitajospit, usually frothy
- lapospit, usually frothy
- espumajospit, usually frothy
- espumarajospit, usually frothy
Ukrainian слина
- слина (slyna)spit, usually frothy
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with spittle
Cite this entry
spittle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spittle
“spittle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spittle. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spittle,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spittle.
Source: spittle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.