spray

B2 Topic:Materials & Substances

US /spɹeɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #5113

Meanings

1

noun
Tiny drops of liquid blown or scattered through the air.

The sailor could feel the cool spray from the waves.
2

verb
To scatter liquid in small drops over a surface.

He sprayed the wall with bright blue paint.
3

noun
A liquid kept in a can that comes out as a fine mist when pressed.

She used an insect spray to get rid of the mosquitoes.
4

verb
To come out or send out in a burst of small drops.

Water sprayed all over the floor when the pipe burst.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms sprayedsprayingsprays

Derived forms autospraybespraycryosprayelectrosprayhypospraymicrospraymisspraynanospraynanosprayedoverspraypepper-spraypresprayed

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

spray paint
paint designed to be applied as a fine spray

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, scatter”). Cognate with Middle High German spræjen, spræwen (“to squirt, spray, dust, splash, straw”), Danish dialectal språe (“to open up, burst forth”), Swedish dialectal språ (“to sprout, shoot forth, burst”), Norwegian dialectal spra, spræ (“to splash, splatter, spout, burst forth”), Dutch sproeien (“to spray, sprinkle”), German sprühen (“to spray, sparkle”).

spraien Middle Dutch *sprēwijaną Proto-Germanic *(s)per- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# spray

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /spɹeɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 5113

## Meanings
1. Tiny drops of liquid blown or scattered through the air.
2. To scatter liquid in small drops over a surface.
3. A liquid kept in a can that comes out as a fine mist when pressed.
4. To come out or send out in a burst of small drops.

## Examples
- The sailor could feel the cool spray from the waves.
- He sprayed the wall with bright blue paint.
- She used an insect spray to get rid of the mosquitoes.
- Water sprayed all over the floor when the pipe burst.

## Derived Forms
- autospray
- bespray
- cryospray
- electrospray
- hypospray
- microspray
- misspray
- nanospray
- nanosprayed
- overspray
- pepper-spray
- presprayed

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: spraien
- Root: *sprēwijaną
- Root: *(s)per-

## Etymology
From Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, scatter”). Cognate with Middle High German spræjen, spræwen (“to squirt, spray, dust, splash, straw”), Danish dialectal språe (“to open up, burst forth”), Swedish dialectal språ (“to sprout, shoot forth, burst”), Norwegian dialectal spra, spræ (“to splash, splatter, spout, burst forth”), Dutch sproeien (“to spray, sprinkle”), German sprühen (“to spray, sparkle”).

## AI Etymology
Spray is from Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, scatter”). Cognate with Middle High German spræjen, spræwen (“to squirt, spray, dust, splash, straw”), Danish dialectal språe (“to open up, burst forth”), Swedish dialectal språ (“to sprout, shoot forth, burst”), Norwegian dialectal spra, spræ (“to splash, splatter, spout, burst forth”), Dutch sproeien (“to spray, sprinkle”), German sprühen (“to spray, sparkle”).

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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