/ spɜːt; NAmE spɜːrt/ verb , noun
■ verb
1.
spurt (out) (from sth) ( of liquid or flames ) to burst or pour out suddenly; to produce sudden, powerful streams of liquid or flames :
[ v ]
Blood was spurting from her nose.
Red and yellow flames spurted out of the fire.
[ vn ]
Her nose was spurting blood.
The volcano spurted clouds of steam and ash high into the air.
2.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] to increase your speed for a short time to get somewhere faster :
She spurted past me to get to the line first.
■ noun
1.
an amount of liquid or flames that comes out of somewhere with great force :
a great spurt of blood
2.
a sudden increase in speed, effort, activity or emotion for a short period of time :
You'd better put on a spurt (= hurry up) if you want to finish that work today.
Babies get very hungry during growth spurts.
a sudden spurt of anger
•
IDIOMS
- in spurts
••
WORD ORIGIN
mid 16th cent.: of unknown origin.