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sput·ter | \ ˈspə-tər 
\
\sputtered; sputtering; sputters
Definition of sputter
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to spit or squirt from the mouth with explosive sounds
2 : to utter hastily or explosively in confusion or excitement
"that's ridiculous!" she sputtered
3 : to dislodge (atoms) from the surface of a material by collision with high energy particles also : to deposit (a metallic film) by such a process
1 : to spit or squirt particles of food or saliva noisily from the mouth
2 : to speak explosively or confusedly in anger or excitement
3 : to make explosive popping sounds
sputter
nounDefinition of sputter (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : confused and excited speech or discussion
2 : the act or sound of sputtering
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Examples of sputter in a Sentence
Verb
The motor sputtered and died.
He was sputtering with rage.
She sputtered an angry protest.
“You, you have to be kidding!” he sputtered.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Auburn sputtered offensively much of the way but stayed in the LSU game with a late touchdown.
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Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, "Auburn vs. Ole Miss 2019 live stream; time, TV channel, odds, watch online," 2 Nov. 2019 After Kahnle sputtered to start the seventh inning, allowing a single and a walk, Boone used the Yankees’ best two relievers of this postseason — Britton and Aroldis Chapman — to get the game’s final eight outs.
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James Wagner, New York Times, "How the Yankees Beat the Astros in Game 5 of the A.L.C.S.," 18 Oct. 2019 After the Patriots’ initial drive sputtered — and there was even a silver lining there as rookie Jake Bailey launched a 53-yard punt — the Patriots scored on four of their next five drives to build a 20-0 halftime lead.
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Jim Mcbride, BostonGlobe.com, "Patriots have everything working in an opening rout of Steelers," 8 Sep. 2019 The offense mostly sputtered aside from two drives.
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Chris Wassel, USA TODAY Sportsbook Wire, "Stanford Cardinal at USC Trojans odds, picks and best bets," 6 Sep. 2019 Ritter’s offense sputtered in a 35-14 loss to Lutheran and is averaging just 2.5 yards per carry so far.
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Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star, "Week 3 high school football predictions: A loaded slate headlined by Battle of Lawrence," 4 Sep. 2019 However, the Las Lomas offense sputtered for most of the first half as the Knights battled penalties and a few mistakes.
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Chace Bryson, SFChronicle.com, "Los Lomas uses strong second-half effort to beat Bishop O’Dowd," 31 Aug. 2019 The Buckeyes' offense sputtered in the second and third quarters behind its relatively inexperienced leader.
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Mitch Stacy, sun-sentinel.com, "FAU overwhelmed in opener at Ohio State as Georgia transfer Fields accounts for five TDs," 31 Aug. 2019 While the offense sputtered to generate points for the third consecutive preseason game, the first-team defense behind Allen easily handled the Miami Dolphins in the first quarter.
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John Reid, orlandosentinel.com, "Rookie DE Josh Allen makes impact for Jaguars," 23 Aug. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The European Central Bank is restarting its bond buying program, known as quantitative easing, or QE, as economic growth sputters.
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John Detrixhe, Quartz, "A bank chief says negative rates may be bad for banks, but good for society," 3 Oct. 2019 Following the brief sputter, however, Creery bounced back to play his next four holes in one-under par and make the turn at one-over.
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Chris Jeter, baltimoresun.com, "Moon, Creery secure three-peat at District VII golf championships," 26 Sep. 2019 This year, the expectation that the Federal Reserve will keep raising rates has vanished, and investors now overwhelmingly believe the central bank will cut rates as global growth sputters.
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Corrie Driebusch, WSJ, "Real-Estate Stocks Rise To New Highs," 17 June 2019 That's challenging as consumer demand sputters and sales are plummeting in China, the world's largest car market.
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Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, "Ram and Silverado truck battle could mean deep discounts for consumers," 2 July 2019 As the global economy sputters, central banks across the world are promising rate cuts, balance sheet growth and forms of more direct stimulus to help shore up the respective regions' economies.
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David Goldman, CNN, "Dow futures rise 300 points on hopeful signals about trade," 19 Aug. 2019 As the global economy sputters, investors are plowing money into long-term US bonds.
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Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, "Dow falls more than 600 points after disturbing warning," 14 Aug. 2019 The Wildcats’ hope is that will help prevent an early offensive sputter, which factored into the slow start.
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Matt Goul, cleveland.com, "Strong start matters to St. Ignatius: 2019 football camp tour," 2 Aug. 2019 O'Rourke's fundraising sputters in second quarter MANNING, IOWA— Beto O’Rourke’s fundraising machine stalled in the second quarter.
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NBC News, "Study finds 19 percent of U.S. adult Twitter users follow @realDonaldTrump," 16 July 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sputter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for sputter
sputter
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of sputter
: to make loud sounds like explosions
: to speak quickly or in a confused way because you are upset, surprised, etc.
See the full definition for sputter in the English Language Learners Dictionary
sputter
verbsput·ter | \ ˈspə-tər \
\sputtered; sputtering
Kids Definition of sputter
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to spit noisily from the mouth
She came out of the water coughing and sputtering.
2 : to speak in a hasty or explosive way in confusion or excitement
Students sputtered out protests.
3 : to make explosive popping sounds
The motor sputtered and died.
sputter
nounKids Definition of sputter (Entry 2 of 2)
: the act or sound of sputtering
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Time Traveler for sputter
The first known use of sputter was in 1598
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