spew
/spju:/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb (transitive and intransitive):
- To vomit, to eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth: To expel matter from the stomach violently.
- To eject or send out in large quantities, often forcefully or rapidly: This can refer to physical substances (like lava, water, or smoke) or metaphorical things (like words or emotions) being emitted in a copious, uncontrolled stream.
- To expel (saliva or phlegm) from the mouth; to spit: To force liquid from the mouth.
Usage and Examples
- Literal (Vomiting):
- The sick child began to spew.
- He spewed his dinner all over the floor.
- Forceful Emission (Physical):
- The broken pipe spewed water into the street.
- The factory chimneys spew toxic fumes into the air.
- Forceful Emission (Metaphorical):
- The politician spewed insults at his opponent.
- The website's comments section spewed hatred.
- Expelling from the Mouth (Spitting):
- The angry man spewed tobacco juice onto the ground.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- "spew out" or "spew forth": These phrasal verbs emphasize the outward, often continuous, flow of something.
- The volcano spewed out ash and rock.
- The broken dam spewed forth a torrent of water.
- He spewed forth a litany of complaints.
- The word often carries a negative connotation, implying something unpleasant, excessive, or uncontrolled is being released.
Variants and Related Words
- Spewer (noun): One who or that which spews.
- The volcano is an active spewer of lava.
- Spew (noun, informal): Something that is spewed; vomit.
- There was spew on the sidewalk.
Synonyms
- Vomit, throw up, puke (informal): For the act of ejecting stomach contents.
- Erupt, gush, spout, discharge: For the act of ejecting substances forcefully.
- Spit, expectorate: For ejecting saliva.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Spew out: To eject or emit something in a stream.
- The burst pipe was spewing out dirty water.
- The talk show host spewed out opinions non-stop.
- Spew forth: A more literary synonym for "spew out," often used for liquids or speech.
- The spring spewed forth crystal-clear water.
- The prophet spewed forth warnings.
Related Idioms
- Spew venom: To speak with extreme malice or hatred.
- During the debate, the candidate spewed venom against his rival.
- Spew one's guts (out) (slang): To vomit violently. It can also mean to confess or tell everything one knows.
- After the roller coaster, I thought I was going to spew my guts.
- Under pressure, the informant spewed his guts to the police.
Verb
- eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth
- After drinking too much, the students vomited
- He purged continuously
- The patient regurgitated the food we gave him last night
- eject or send out in large quantities, also metaphorical
- the volcano spews out molten rocks every day
- The editors of the paper spew out hostile articles about the Presidential candidate
- expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth
- The father of the victim spat at the alleged murderer