spew

C2 Topic:Actions & Processes

Also spelled spue

US /spjuː/ See IPA manual

Freq #29079

Meanings

1

verb
eject or send out in large quantities, also metaphorical

The volcano spews out molten rocks every day.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with spew

spew out Phrasal verb C2

to eject or produce something in large quantities

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · eject or send out in large... eruct

More vomit belch disgorge regurgitate

Word family

Forms spewedspewingspews

Derived forms bespewoutspewspewagespewerspewsomespewyunspewedupspewn

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

spew out
to eject or produce something in large quantities

Verb + adverb

Simplified etymology

Spew goes back to Old English speowen. The Dutch regional form spugen “to spit,” proposed as a possible source of puke, is related to it.

Etymology

From Middle English spewen, from Old English spīwan, from Proto-West Germanic *spīwan, from Proto-Germanic *spīwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ptyēw- (“to spit, vomit”). Germanic cognates include English spit, West Frisian spije, Dutch spuien, Dutch spuwen, Low German speen, spiien, German speien (“to spew, spit, vomit”), Swedish spy, Danish spy, Faroese spýggja, Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (speiwan). Also cognate, through Indo-European, with Latin spuō (“spit”, verb), Ancient Greek πτύω (ptúō, “spit, vomit”), Albanian fyt (“throat”), Armenian թուք (tʻukʻ), Russian плева́ть (plevátʹ), Persian تف (tof),...

spewen Middle English spīwan Old English *spīwan Proto-West Germanic *spīwaną Proto-Germanic *(s)ptyēw- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# spew

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /spjuː/
**Frequency rank:** 29079

## Meanings
1. eject or send out in large quantities, also metaphorical

## Examples
- The volcano spews out molten rocks every day.

## Synonyms
- eruct
- vomit
- belch
- disgorge
- regurgitate

## Derived Forms
- bespew
- outspew
- spewage
- spewer
- spewsome
- spewy
- unspewed
- upspewn

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: spewen
- Root: spīwan
- Root: *spīwan
- Root: *spīwaną
- Root: *(s)ptyēw-

## Etymology
From Middle English spewen, from Old English spīwan, from Proto-West Germanic *spīwan, from Proto-Germanic *spīwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ptyēw- (“to spit, vomit”). Germanic cognates include English spit, West Frisian spije, Dutch spuien, Dutch spuwen, Low German speen, spiien, German speien (“to spew, spit, vomit”), Swedish spy, Danish spy, Faroese spýggja, Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (speiwan). Also cognate, through Indo-European, with Latin spuō (“spit”, verb), Ancient Greek πτύω (ptúō, “spit, vomit”), Albanian fyt (“throat”), Armenian թուք (tʻukʻ), Russian плева́ть (plevátʹ), Persian تف (tof),...

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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