I. verb
also spue ˈspyü
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English spewen, from Old English spīwan; akin to Old High German spīwan to spit, Old Norse spȳja to spew, Gothic speiwan to spit, Latin spuere, Greek ptyein to spit, Sanskrit ṣṭhīvati he spits
intransitive verb
1. : vomit
2. : to come in a flood or gush
sewage spewed over the yard
a violently spewing flood
3.
a. : to ooze forth : exude
oil spewing out of the wood
water spewed slowly from the saturated soil
b. of soil : to break away and slip (as when swollen with frost)
transitive verb
1. : to eject from the stomach : vomit
spewed out a mass of undigested food
2. : to cast forth with or as if with disgust : emit or eject with vigor or violence
a volcano spewing out lava
spewed forth his contempt
3. : to force out by or as if by pressure : extrude
II. noun
also spue “
( -s )
1.
a. : matter that is vomited : vomitus
b. : material that exudes or is extruded: as
(1) : an oily or gummy exudate (as on the surface of leather or a recording disc)
(2) : an overflow (as of rubber or metal) from a mold
2. dialect Britain : an afterswarm of bees that is usually the third or fourth of a season
3. dialect Britain : a soggy piece of ground : an oozy patch especially in a field