spat

• IPA^(key): /spæt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

  • Rhymes: -æt

Old English spittan, spætan.

spat

1. simple past 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 (countable and uncountable, plural spats)

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

   • 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 243:

     But Orata’s oysters were, like the dormice and fish, collected in the wild, as spat.

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, chapter 3, in The Trail of the White Mule:

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

   • 2007 July 13, Nolan Clay, “Co-workers testify about Kelsey's mother”, in Daily Oklahoman, 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.

• ATSP, PTSA, TAPs, past, ap'ts, PATs, Apts, TAPS, PSAT, taps, APTs, apts., ATPs, TPAs, ptas., Pats, stap, PTAs, pats, APTS, apts, 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. inflection of spatten:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

• 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"

spat

1. (colloquial) definite singular of spad

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

spat

1. four