spitting

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
spit1

▶verb (spits, spitting; past and past part. spat or spit)

• 1 eject saliva forcibly from one's mouth.

  ■ forcibly eject (food or liquid) from one's mouth.

  ■ (spit up) N. Amer. (especially of a baby) vomit.

• 2 utter in a hostile way.

• 3 (of a fire or something being cooked) emit small bursts of sparks or hot fat with a series of explosive noises.

• 4 (it spits, it is spitting, etc.) Brit. light rain falls.

▶noun

• 1 saliva.

• 2 an act of spitting.

– phrases
be the spit (or the dead spit) of informal look exactly like. [see spitting image.]
spit blood (or Austral. chips) be very angry.
spit feathers informal, chiefly Brit.

• 1 be very thirsty.

• 2 be very angry.

spit in the eye (or face) of show contempt or scorn for.
spit it out [in imper.] informal say something unhesitatingly.
spit-and-sawdust Brit. informal (of a pub) old-fashioned and simple, of a type whose floor was originally covered with sawdust.

– derivatives
spitter noun,
spitty adjective.

– origin OE spittan, of imitative origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
spit2

▶noun

• 1 a long, thin metal rod pushed through meat in order to hold and turn it while it is roasted over an open fire.

• 2 a narrow point of land projecting into the sea.

▶verb (spits, spitting, spitted) put a spit through (meat).

– origin OE spitu, of W. Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
spit3

▶noun (pl. same or spits) a layer of earth whose depth is equal to the length of the blade of a spade.

– origin C16: from MDu. and Mid. Low Ger.; prob. rel. to spit2.