What does "sputter" mean?
Sputter: To utter words hastily and indistinctly; to speak so rapidly as to emit saliva. They could neither of them speak their rage, and so fell a sputtering at one another, like two roasting apples. Congreve.
Additional senses
- 2.To throw out anything, as little jets of steam, with a noise like that made by one sputtering. Like the green wood . . . sputtering in the flame. Dryden.
- 3.To spit out hastily by quick, successive efforts, with a spluttering sound; to utter hastily and confusedly, without control over the organs of speech. In the midst of caresses, and without the last pretend incitement, to sputter out the basest accusations. Swift.
- 4.Moist matter thrown out in small detached particles; also, confused and hasty speech.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00