spit
part of speech
verb (spit, spits, spat/spit, spitting); noun (spit, uncountable; a spit, spits)
meaning for a pupil
1) To spit is to push liquid or food out of your mouth. tree →
2) Spit is the liquid in your mouth (saliva). tree →
3) A spit is a long metal rod for roasting meat over a fire. tree →
4) A spit is a long, narrow point of land sticking out into the sea. tree →
5) To spit (of rain) is to rain lightly. tree →
6) To be the spitting image of someone is to look exactly like them. tree →
sense in the lessons
In hygiene and manners, spitting in public is rude and spreads germs; spit toothpaste into the sink. In science, spit (saliva) begins digestion. In geography, a spit is a landform made by waves carrying sand and stones along a coast. In nature, llamas and some snakes spit to defend themselves. Phrases: spit out, spit it out (say it!), spitting image, it's spitting (light rain).
examples
- Spit the toothpaste into the sink. tree →
- It's rude to spit on the pavement. tree →
- Spit out that gum! tree →
- The llama spat at the visitors. tree →
- They roasted a pig on a spit. tree →
- We walked to the end of the sandy spit. tree →
- It's only spitting, so we can still play outside. tree →
- You're the spitting image of your dad. tree →
- In the kitchen the deer roasted on the spit before the fire. tree →
note
Past form spat in British English; Americans also use spit. Spitting at someone is very rude and can spread illness. "Spit it out!" means say what you want to say quickly.
In the corpora
- Llamas and alpacas live in the Andes; their blood carries oxygen well, and they spit mostly at each other to settle arguments.
- Swallows and house martins build cup nests from mud mixed with spit, and a house martin nest takes about 1,000 mud pellets.
- In many countries street dogs can carry rabies, a deadly virus in the spit.
- Rabies is a virus carried in the spit of infected animals, and in many countries street dogs are the main source.
- A mosquito had dinner while you slept, and the itch is your body reacting to its spit.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «spit» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.