squirt
/skwɝt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.22 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An instrument from which a liquid is forcefully ejected in a small, quick stream.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Australian usage; New Zealand usage; British usage; American usage; Countable; Slang
Example Sentences
- "The Karo-Bataks of Sumatra have a rain-making ceremony which lasts a week. The men go about with bamboo squirts and the women with bowls of water, and they drench each other or throw the water into the air and cry, "The rain has come," when it drips down on them."
- "a squirt of body lotion"
- "Chances are you′ll get a squirt of citrus juice in your eye."
- "As the connection was broken, the receiver let out a shrill squirt of static."
- "He was still there when I came up, a squirt with his hat over one eye and a camera hung round his neck and a grin on his squirt face. I thought maybe I had seen him around town, but maybe not, the squirts look so much alike when they grind them out of journalism school."
- "Hey squirt! Where you been?"
Etymology
From Middle English squirten, squyrten, of uncertain origin; probably onomatopoeic. Akin to swirl. Compare Low German swirtjen (“to squirt”) and Swedish water onomatopoeias skvala, skvalp, skvimpa, and skvätta; Icelandic skvetta; and Norwegian skvette. *
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: squirten
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /skwɝt/
- British English: /skwɜːt/
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Slang
- Australian usage
- New Zealand usage
- British usage
- American usage
- Informal