splashing

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
splash/splaʃ/

▶verb

• 1 make liquid strike or fall on (something) in drops.

  ■ (of a liquid) fall or be scattered in drops.

  ■ strike or move around in water, causing it to fly about.

  ■ (splash down) (of a spacecraft) land on water.

• 2 display (a story or photograph) in a prominent place in a newspaper or magazine.

• 3 (splash out or splash money out) Brit. informal spend money freely.

• 4 (be splashed with) be decorated with scattered patches of.

▶noun

• 1 an instance of splashing or the sound made by this.

  ■ a small quantity of liquid that has splashed on to a surface.

  ■ a small quantity of liquid added to a drink.

• 2 a bright patch of colour.

• 3 informal a prominent news feature or story.

– phrases
make a splash informal attract a great deal of attention.

– derivatives
splashy adjective.

– origin C18: alt. of plash.