spout
/spaʊt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.11 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A waterspout (“channel through which water is discharged, especially from the gutters of a roof”).
noun
A waterspout (“whirlwind or tornado that forms over water”).
Example Sentences
- "I dropped my china teapot, and its spout broke."
- "I put a spout in the maple tree to collect its sap"
- "A spout of blood flew from his mouth, spattering Smichov's linen trousers."
- "[…] the river rushes over the Auchinlilie Lin or Spout, a tremendous chataract^([sic]); after which it proceeds in a more quiet course, and is navigable to the village of Carron Shore."
- "The Spout of Garnock is a wild and romantic waterfall upon that stream in the moors of Kilbirnie parish. The rock here is also porphyry. The porphyry upon the east side of the fall is much rent, and has fallen forward[…]"
- "[…] a streamlet made a little spout over some stones to serve me for a water-tap."
Etymology
From Middle English spouten, from Middle Dutch spoiten, spouten (> Dutch spuiten (“to spout”)), from Old Dutch *spūten, *spīuten, *spīwetten, from Proto-West Germanic *spīwattjan, from Proto-Germanic *spīwatjaną. Compare Swedish spruta (“squirt, syringe”). See also spit, spew.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: spouten, spoiten, *spūten, *spīwattjan, *spīwatjaną