Definition

1. Verb (transitive and intransitive):
   • To expel or discharge something, such as phlegm, mucus, or vomit, from the mouth.
   • To give or hand over something, especially money, reluctantly or with difficulty.

Usage

• The verb "spit up" is commonly used to describe the action of a baby regurgitating a small amount of milk or food.
• It can also be used more generally for any instance of bringing up contents from the stomach or lungs through the mouth.
• In a figurative, informal sense, it describes the act of surrendering something one would prefer to keep.

Examples

• Literal (expelling matter):
  • The infant tends to spit up a little after each feeding.
  • He was coughing so hard he began to spit up blood.
• Figurative (reluctantly giving):
  • After weeks of negotiation, the company finally spit up the compensation funds.
  • He spit up the cash he owed, but he wasn't happy about it.

Advanced Usage

• "to spit up on (someone/something)": To expel matter onto a person or object.
  • The baby spit up on her new dress.

Variants and Related Words

• Spit-up (noun): The substance that has been expelled.
  • There was spit-up on his shoulder.
• Regurgitate (verb): A more formal synonym for the act of bringing swallowed food back into the mouth.
• Vomit (verb/noun): A stronger term for ejecting the contents of the stomach through the mouth.

Synonyms

• Throw up (for the expelling sense)
• Cough up (for both the expelling and the reluctant giving senses)
• Disgorge
• Fork over (informal, for the reluctant giving sense)

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Cough up: Very similar in meaning, used for both expelling matter and giving money reluctantly.
  • The witness was forced to cough up the information.
• Throw up: Almost exclusively used for vomiting.

Related Idioms

• Pay through the nose: To pay a very high price, often reluctantly. This is related to the figurative sense of "spit up" involving money.
  • We had to pay through the nose for those tickets.

Verb

1. discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth
2. give reluctantly
   • He coughed up some money for his children's tuition