Definition of spatter
intransitive verb
: to spurt forth in scattered drops blood spattering everywhere
transitive verb
1 : to splash with or as if with a liquid; also : to soil in this way his coat was spattered with mud
2 : to scatter by or as if by splashing spatter water
3 : to cover with or as if with splashes or spots
4 : to cast aspersions on : defame spattered my reputation
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Examples of spatter in a Sentence
The dog jumped in the pool and spattered us with water.
His clothes were spattered with paint.
When you cook bacon, the grease spatters everywhere.
He showed me how to use the paintbrush so the paint wouldn't spatter.
Recent Examples of spatter from the Web
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In front of the house, blood was spattered on the sidewalk.
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Schillace said spots that Spenzer found on Rasor's collar turned out to be blood, possibly spatter from the shooting.
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Blood was spattered on a green Ford Escape SUV in the small parking lot of Club B.A.M. Blood also stained the north side of the lot and spilled toward Northwest First Street at Northwest 28th Terrace, where before dawn, a man was found dead.
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Gruff and often scowling, restaurant work has left her hands patterned with small knife cuts and her forearms spattered by ugly oil burns.
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Akenina swiftly amended that when a gust of wind blew her beer cup off a nearby table, spattering her feet with foam.
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Blood was spattered throughout much of the living room and kitchen, an arrest warrant said.
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During these spectacles, at home the scandal news came not in drips but spattering gouts.
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Late last month, Mikhail M. Kasyanov, another Putin critic, was spattered with green paint at a march in memory of the politician Boris Nemtsov, who was shot and killed on a Moscow bridge two years ago.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'spatter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of spatter
akin to Frisian spatterje to spatter, Middle Dutch bespatten to splash
spatter
Definition of spatter
1a : the act or process of spattering : the state of being spatteredb : the noise of spattering
2a : a drop or splash spattered on something or a spot or stain due to spatteringb : a small amount or number : sprinkle a spatter of applause
Examples of spatter in a Sentence
There were grease spatters all over the wall.
The floor was covered with spatters of paint.
There was a lot of paint spatter on the floor.
Recent Examples of spatter from the Web
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The 1997 Times-Picayune story says the jury heard an expert witness for the prosecution testify that blood spatter patterns implicated East, who was sitting behind Brown in the car.
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Aquarius's drumming hammers and spatters like a hailstorm, and the deranged buzzsaw of Koreman's distorted noise swirls, yaws, and lunges like a howling wind trying to tear the windows out of your house.
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Microwaving the bacon is a safe, simple shortcut that prevents grease spatters and speeds cooking.
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In the shop’s dim cinder-block office, blood spatter glowed purple when Texas Rangers sprayed luminol on the walls.
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This included blood spatter and hair/fiber analysis, forensic toxicology, forensic geology, ballistics, and fingerprinting.
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An autopsy and blood spatter in the home revealed that Candace Hiltz had been shot almost simultaneously from the front and back.
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Authorities also found a large pool of blood beneath Parker’s head, a wrench under his shoulder and blood spatters on the nearby car and other surfaces.
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Panels show brain tissue, as delicate as butterfly wings, spatter-marked as if with buckshot, bearing outright tears surrounded by broken tendrils of scarring or dark clouds of damage looming from the folds and furrows.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'spatter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of spatter
1797
SPATTER Defined for English Language Learners
spatter
playDefinition of spatter for English Language Learners
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: to cause drops of a liquid to be thrown forcefully in different directions
spatter
Definition of spatter for English Language Learners
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: a mark made when something wet hits a surface
SPATTER Defined for Kids
Definition of spatter for Students
spattered
;spattering
1 : to splash with drops or small bits of something wet Don't spatter the floor with paint.
2 : to scatter by splashing A passing car spattered mud on my clothes.
Headscratcher for spatter
You can add one letter to spatter to form the synonym “splatter,” or you can change one letter to form the related word “scatter.”
Definition of spatter for Students
1 : the act or sound of something splashing in drops the spatter of rain on a roof
2 : a drop or splash spattered on something : a spot or stain due to spattering a grease spatter
Learn More about spatter
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See words that rhyme with spatter Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for spatter Spanish Central: Translation of spatter Nglish: Translation of spatter for Spanish speakers
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