spat

• IPA^(key): /spæt/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

  • Rhymes: -æt

Old English spittan, spætan.

spat

1. simple past tense and past participle of spit

   There was no sink in the room so we spat out the window.

   If I had known you had a spittoon in the corner I would never have spat on the floor.

Uncertain; perhaps related to spit.

spat (uncountable)

1. The spawn of shellfish, especially oysters and similar molluscs.
   • 2005, TVR Pillay & MN Kutty, Aquaculture: Principles and practices, p. 525:

     As spat-fall often occurs in areas away from environments suitable for oyster growing, the collection, transport and sale of oyster spat has developed into a separate industry.

2. A juvenile shellfish which has attached to a hard surface.
   • 2011, The Pearl Oyster‎, page 256:

     Conditions in pearl oyster hatcheries are optimized for growth and survival of spat.

   • 1988, Bivalve Mollusc Culture Research in Thailand‎, page 28:

     If the spat are allowed to remain attached to the tank bottom for more than two days, they are difficult to remove without damage to the shell.

spat (third-person singular simple present spats, present participle spatting, simple past and past participle spatted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To spawn. Used of shellfish as above.

Shortening of spatterdash, from spatter + dash. 1779.

A felt spat

Australian 1970s Holden Kingswood with spats

spat (plural spats)

1. (often in the plural) A covering or decorative covering worn over a shoe.

   Coordinate term: gaiter

2. (automotive, UK, Australia) A piece of bodywork that covers the upper portions of the rear tyres of a car.

   Synonym: (US) fender skirt

3. (aviation) A drag-reducing aerodynamic fairing covering the upper portions of the tyres of an aeroplane equipped with non-retractable landing gear.

1804. American English, probably imitative.

spat (plural spats)

1. A brief argument, falling out, quarrel.

   get into a trivial spat over punctuality

   have a vicious spat with the cousins

   • 2017 January 14, “Some Thais worry that a lasting power struggle is brewing. Others see a minor spat over language, which will quickly be forgotten.”, in The Economist‎:

   • 2022 November 16, Graham Eccles, “The Rest Day Working saga...”, in RAIL, number 970, page 32:

     The downside of this cost-saving strategy was that the train service could only be covered by goodwill. Whenever there was a spat between ASLEF and management - regardless of cause - the withdrawal of this goodwill became a stick with which unions could beat management.

spat (third-person singular simple present spats, present participle spatting, simple past and past participle spatted)

1. To quarrel or argue briefly.

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Attested from 1823.

spat (plural spats)

1. A light blow with something flat.

spat (third-person singular simple present spats, present participle spatting, simple past and past participle spatted)

1. (transitive and intransitive) To strike with a spattering sound.
   • 1922, B. M. Bower, The Trail of the White Mule, ch. 3:

     He felt the wind of a second bullet that spatted against a boulder near Barney.

   • 2007, Nolan Clay, "Co-workers testify about Kelsey's mother," Daily Oklahoman, 13 July, (retrieved 25 Aug. 2009):

     "She mentioned she had spatted Kelsey on her diaper with a hairbrush," said Mildred Johnson, a co-worker.

2. (US, dialect) To slap, as with the open hand; to clap together, as the hands.
   • 1845, Sylvester Judd, Margaret

     Little Isabel leaped up and down, spatting her hands.

Latin spatium (“space”)

spat (plural spats)

1. An obsolete unit of distance in astronomy (symbol S), equal to one billion kilometres.

• APTS, APTs, ATSP, PATs, PSAT, PTAs, PTSA, Pats, TAPs, TPAs, Taps, ap'ts, apts, past, pats, stap, taps

From Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

spat

1. four

From Middle Low German spat. Compare German Spat and Swedish spatt.

• IPA^(key): /spat/, [sb̥ad̥]

spat c (singular definite spatten, not used in plural form)

1. spavin (disease of horses characterized by a bony swelling developed on the hock as the result of inflammation of the bones)
2. få spat – get annoyed or angry

• spattet

• IPA^(key): /spɑt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: spat
• Rhymes: -ɑt

From Middle Dutch spat.

spat m (plural spatten)

1. (obsolete) blowgun

   Synonyms: blaaspijp, blaasroer

From spatten.

spat m (plural spatten, diminutive spatje n)

1. spot, speckle, stain

• bloedspat

• → Papiamentu: spat

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

spat

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of spatten
2. imperative of spatten

• past, stap, taps

• IPA^(key): [spat]

spat

1. supine of spaś

spat

1. Short form of spavati: "Cili Trogir ide spat" = "Cijeli Trogir ide spati" = "The whole City of Trogir goes to sleep"

From Proto-Atayalic *səpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

spat

1. four