spewn.
/spjuː/, U.S. /spju/ 1.
a. That which is spewed or cast up from the stomach; vomited matter; vomit. Also figurative or in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [noun] > vomiting > vomit
spewingc1380
vomea1382
vomitc1390
voment1482
parbreak1590
vomiture1598
spew1609
puke1705
vomiting1716
vomitus1904
throw-up1918
sick1959
1609 G. Markham Famous Whore (1868) 32 Thus to mine old trade, and spew of hell, Onely for gaine, agen I basely fell.
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. D4v That foul spue Which the false Dragon casts in every coste.
1660 J. Milton Readie Way Free Commonw. (ed. 2) 81 The language of thir infernal pamphlets, the spue of every drunkard, every ribald.
1705 J. Swift Descr. of Salamander in Misc. (1711) 376 She soon would find, the same Effects Her tainted Carcase to pursue, As from the Salamander's Spue.
1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. F. Dedekind Grobianus 266 'Twas nothing but his Due, Instead of Laurel to be crown'd with Spue.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India I. ii. iv. 159 Throwing upon another from the navel downwards to his foot, spue, or urine, or ordure.
b. technical. (See quot. 1893.)
ΚΠ
1893 Labour Commission Gloss. Spew-out, the emanation similar to treacle of the glucose from the uppers or leather when kept for a time.
c. Surplus material exuded between the halves of a mould during the manufacture of plastic objects. Frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > synthetic resins and plastics > [noun] > plastic > excess plastic on moulding
sprue1834
flash1910
spew1933
1933 Industr. & Engin. Chem. June 647/1 The degree of flow can be readily controlled by the location, size and placement of the spew hole.
1945 A. T. Birkby Phenolic Plastics iv. 43 Provision should be made for air venting, and, in the case of compression moulds, for spew~ways.
1945 A. T. Birkby Phenolic Plastics viii. 93 ‘Flash’ or ‘spew’ soon begins to appear round each press, and unless swept up and removed becomes a nuisance.
1964 J. A. Wordingham & P. Reboul Dict. Plastics 165 Spew groove, in moulding operations, the groove in a mould which permits the escape of surplus material.
2. dialect. The fourth swarm of bees in a season.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > swarm of bees > fourth of season
spew1742
1742 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman June xvi. 182 The Swarm is the first and greatest Number, the Cast is the next greatest, the Colt the next, and the Spew the least of all.
1742 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman June xvi. 182 A Swarm, a Cast, a Colt, and a Spew.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 273
3. dialect. A wet, marshy piece of ground; a place in a field, etc., where water oozes up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > marsh, bog, or swamp > [noun] > wet place, mire, or slough
sloughc900
mooreOE
letch1138
mire1219
sougha1300
dew1377
slop?a1400
flashc1440
slothc1440
slonk1488
slot?a1500
rilling1610
slab1610
water-gall1657
slunkc1700
slack1719
mudhole1721
bog-hole1788
spew1794
wetness1805
stabble1821
slob1836
sludge1839
soak1839
mudbath1856
squire-trap1859
loblolly1865
glue-pot1892
swelter1894
poaching1920
1794 P. Foot Gen. View Agric. Middlesex x. 45 The water..appears at the foot, or in the middle of a declivity, and causes a spew, a squall, or boggy piece of ground.
1868 R. W. Huntley Gloss. Cotswold (Gloucs.) Dial. Spew, a spungy piece of ground.
1871 C. Kingsley At Last I. viii. 275 The little pitch wells—‘spues’ or ‘galls’, as we should call them in Hampshire.
Compounds
spew frost n. = needle ice n. at needle n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > ice > land ice > [noun] > needle-ice
needle ice1892
pipkrake1936
spew frost1938
1938 C. F. S. Sharpe Landslides iii. 27 Growths of frost crystal of this sort are known as spew frost.., feather-ice, or needle-ice..and on the European continent as Pipkrake or Kammeis.
1939 H. H. Bennett Soil Conservation xii. 284 Where there is sufficient soil moisture, a freeze will produce layers of needle ice, or spew frost, which will lift the overlying soil and vegetation as much as several inches.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
spewv.
/spjuː/, U.S. /spju/ 1. † b. transitive. To bespew or bespit. Obsolete.
a. intransitive. To bring up and discharge the contents of the stomach through the mouth; to vomit. Not now in polite use.Also in Old English, to spit, to discharge spittle or blood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > have digestive disorder [verb (intransitive)] > vomit
spewc897
vomea1382
brake1393
perbreak?a1400
castc1440
envomish1480
parbreak1495
vomita1500
to cast the crawa1529
to cast (up), heave, spue up, vomit one's gorgea1529
galpa1535
to cast out1561
puke1586
purge1596
void1605
to jerk, shoot, whip the cat1609
rid1647
to flay the fox1653
posset1781
to shoot the cat1785
to throw up1793
throw1804
cascade1805
reject1822
yark1867
sick1924
to toss (also shoot, blow, etc.) one's cookies1927
to lose a dinner (or a meal)1941
to spew one's ring1949
chunder1950
barf1960
upchuck1960
yuck1963
ralph1966
to go for the big spit1967
vom1991
α.
in extended use.1731 A. Pope Epist. to Earl of Burlington 12 The rich Buffet well-colour'd Serpents grace, And gaping Tritons spew to wash your Face.β. a1400 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Rolls) VII. 503 Edricus a fals traytor, feyned for to spuwe, and seide that he was seke.a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xxiv. 312 I spuyd and spyt right in his face.1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. xlvi Some spue, some stacker some vtterly ar lame.1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 730/2 I spue, I gyve over my gorge, je gomys.1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island vii. lxxvii. 104 All drink to spue, and spue again to drink.1736 I. H. Browne Pipe of Tobacco 31 A pot, wherein to spit, or spue.1877 F. Ross et al. Gloss. Words Holderness figurative.1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 387 Lysander,..being reuiled with many bitter speeches, said to him that offered the iniurie: Spue out boldly my friend; spue out..and spare not.c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care v. 45 Gif hire ðonne se wiðsace, ðonne is cynn ðæt him spiwe ðæt wif on ðæt nebb.
c1000 Ælfric Lives Saints xii. 163 Swa þæt he bið þam hunde gelic þe spywð, and eft ytt þæt he ær aspaw.
c1100 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (MS.F) ann. 1003 Ða gebræde he hine to spiwenne & cwæd ðæt he seoc wære.
a1225 Juliana 49 Hare ahne blod ich habbe ofte imaket ham to spitten & to speowen.
c1340 Nominale (Skeat) 344 Homme vomyte pur surfet, [Man] spewith for ouer mykul.
c1386 G. Chaucer Melibeus ⁋451 If thou ete of it out of mesure, thou shalt spewe.
c1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 71 Þe medicyn ys þys, to drynke cler watir with a sope of vynegre, and spewe.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 728 This felowe is so lothsome that he wolde make one spewe.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Riiiv/2 To Speawe, spuere, vomere.
1570 B. Googe tr. T. Kirchmeyer Popish Kingdome iv. f. 56 He..holdes their heades that speewing lie.
1608 T. Middleton Familie of Love (new ed.) iv. sig. F4 I wil..send him packing, or else hee will spew or do worse before me.
1647 J. Trapp Mellificium Theol. in Comm. Epist. & Rev. 687 Such as should make a Christian spew to think on them.
1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. F. Dedekind Grobianus 42 There, unabash'd, heroically, spew.
1783 E. Gibbon Misc. Wks. (1814) II. 327 I had not the least symptom of sea-sickness, while my companions were spewing round me.
1809 Ld. Byron Lines to Mr. Hodgson iii Passengers their berths are clapt in, Some to grumble, some to spew.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > dirtiness or soiling with specific kinds of dirt > dirty or soil with specific kinds of dirt [verb (transitive)] > dirty with saliva or spittle
spitc950
sputea1225
bespetea1240
bedravel1377
spouta1382
bespitc1384
beslobber1393
spew1526
slabber1579
beslaver1589
slaver1591
spittle1596
bespawl1602
drivel1609
bedribble1620
slop1696
bedrivel1721
slake1808
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > dirtiness or soiling with specific kinds of dirt > dirty or soil with specific kinds of dirt [verb (transitive)] > dirty with vomit
spew1526
bespewc1600
bevomit1837
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. FFviii He was illuded and scorned with garmentes of irrisyon, spewed in the face.
2. figurative.a1618 W. Raleigh Instr. to Sonne (1651) ix. 27 I thought at the last, quoth Diogenes, he would spue out a whole house.1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 214 Thus they left him in that place, spewing out his soule with his bloud.
a. transitive. To bring up (food or drink) from the stomach and eject through the mouth; to cast up or vomit; to cast out, throw forth, or discharge (blood, poison, etc.) from the mouth. Also in figurative context.In Old English the object is sometimes in the dative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > have digestive disorder [verb (transitive)] > vomit
spew971
aspewc1200
to gulch out?c1225
casta1300
vomea1382
brake1393
evacuec1400
to cast outa1425
deliver?a1425
voida1425
evomec1450
evomit?a1475
disgorge1477
to cast up1483
degorge1493
vomish1536
retch1538
parbreak1540
reject1540
vomit1541
evacuate1542
revomit1545
belch1558
vomit1560
to lay up1570
upvomit1582
to fetch up1599
puke1601
respew1606
inbelch1610
spew1610
to throw up1614
exgurgitate1623
out-spew1647
egurgitate1656
to throw off1660
to bring up1719
pick1828
sick1924
yark1927
barf1960
to park the tiger1970
vom1991
971 Blickl. Hom. 57 Ne þæt to nahte nyt ne biþ þæt man godne mete ete oþþe þæt betste win..drince, gif..he hit eft spiwende anforlæteþ.
OE Cynewulf Juliana 476 Eac ic sume gedyde þæt him banlocan blode spiowedan, þæt hi færinga feorh aleton þurh ædra wylm.
c1000 Ælfric Lives Saints xii. 63 He feoll þa æt ðære forman snæde underbecc geswogen, and spaw blod.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 199 [Þe] neddre..speweð hire atter.
c1220 Bestiary 139 in Old Eng. Misc. Oc he speweð or al ðe uenim ðat in his brest is bred.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1819 Þe fifte..Gaf he a ful sor dint ok, Bitwen þe sholdres,..þat he speu [printed spen] his herte blod.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 439 Men ete..filþe þat men hadde y-spewed [v.r. yspuwed] and i-cast up.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 118 Or ellis he spewiþ [v.r. spyweþ] his mete, or he feliþ to gret akþe in þe heed.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 154 He about the devillis nek Did spew agane ane quart of blek.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A5v Therewith she spewd out of her filthie maw A floud of poyson.
1611 W. Mure Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 6 Ane spytfull spidar, ewer spewing Ye poysonous potioune of late rewing.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 119 The Steer..dying spews a Flood Of foamy Madness, mix'd with clotted Blood. View more context for this quotation
1818 G. Beattie John o' Arnha' (ed. 2) 39 Dæmons, dragons, spectres dire, Spewin' reek, an' riftin' fire.
b. Const. with adverbs, as forth, out, up.
ΚΠ
a900 Old Eng. Martyrol. 23 Mar. He spaw his innoð ut þurh his muð.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 37 Þe fule man þe foleȝeð his wombes wil..and þe est metes and drinkes ut speweð.
a1240 Sawles Warde in Old Eng. Hom. I. 251 Iteilede draken..forswolheð ham ihal, ant speoweð ham eft ut biuoren ant bihinden.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Job xx. 15 He schal spue out the richessis, whiche he deuouride.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iii. 92 Their Musicke in the end was sound drunkennesse, and their Syncopa turnd to spew vp all.
1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. xviii. 149 If you shift them into fresh water or brine..they will open themselves, and spue out all their gravel and filthiness.
1682 N. O. tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin ii. 172 Thou look'st as if first eaten, and then spew'd up.
1859 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Aeneid viii, in tr. Virgil Wks. II. 247 But he..from his jaws prodigious smoke..spews forth.
c. Frequently in figurative use with reference to abusive or objectionable language. Chiefly const. with adverbs, as forth, out, up. (Frequently c1550–1600.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > malediction > [verb (transitive)] > swear or use profanity
waryc1000
spew?c1225
flavour1542
vomit1592
spawl1640
cuss1831
explete1902
adjective1906
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 70 Þe arre [backbiter] comeð al openlich & seið uuel bi an oðer. & speoweð ut his atter.
1532 T. More Confut. Barnes in Wks. (1557) 736/1 All hys deuelyshe lies which he spetteth and speweth oute vpon honest men.
1535 G. Joye Apol. Tindale sig. E.viiiv [He] hathe spewed forthe al his venome and poyson at once vpon me.
1576 A. Fleming tr. C. Matius in Panoplie Epist. 114 But why shold they spue against me their spiteful stomaches?
1628 G. Wither Britain's Remembrancer ii. 171 I doe not grudge mine enemies to spue Their slanders on my name.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. x. 472 My sonne, beholde you deserue to be burnt quicke..: Spewing forth also this Fæminine Latine [etc.].
1702 T. Brown Amusem. Serious & Comical (ed. 2) iii. 27 There [is] an Evidence ready to spue up his false Oaths at the sight of the common Executioner.
1718 T. Gordon Ded. to Great Man 20 Why must prating Oafs..be for ever suffer'd, without Rebuke, to be spewing up their ill-scented Crudities in the Faces of Men that are either Wise or Brave?
1877 E. Dowden Shakspere (Macmillan Lit. Primers) v. 53 Thersites spews over everything that we had deemed high and sacred, his foul..insults.
3. To cast out († or up), to eject or reject, with abhorrence, contempt, or loathing. Also const. out of or forth (a place). (Frequently c1600.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > feeling against or a settled dislike > impulse of aversion > turn away from or regard with aversion or reject [verb (transitive)] > eject with abhorrence or loathing
spewa1425
vomit1562
(a)
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Lev. xviii. 25 Of which lond Y schal vysyte the grete synnes, that it spewe out hise dwellers.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rev. iii. 16 Because thou arte..nether colde ner hott, I will spew the oute of my mought.
1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Iiiv It will spue out many of his Maisters out of dores before it be long.
1601 F. Bacon Declar. Pract. & Treasons Earl of Essex in Wks. (1879) I. 433 He was thus justly spewed out of the realm.
a1652 R. Brome Novella v. i. sig. M3, in Five New Playes (1653) I shall take for your disgrace an order Shall spue you forth the City.
1692 J. Ray Misc. Disc. xii. 207 Heaven would naturally spue out and eject a wicked person.
1729 W. Flower Let. 18 Mar. in J. Swift Corr. (1963) III. 319 Bad men..should be spuewed out of it with utmost contempt.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 231 William..would have been pronounced by..bigots on both sides a mere Laodicean,..and fit only to be spewed out.
4.
a. To eject, cast or throw out or up, as if by vomiting. (Frequently in the 17th cent.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > let or send out [verb (transitive)] > eject
warpc1000
wreaka1300
out-throwa1393
excludec1400
shootc1400
spitc1400
deliver?a1425
outflingc1450
springc1480
bolka1522
vomit1552
spurge1582
out-braid1586
hurl1590
cast1601
spew1605
eject1607
ejaculate1609
spew1610
to cast out1611
throw1625
eructate1632
gullop1646
explode1660
to throw off1660
belch1668
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 476 A Bullet spew'd from brazen brest.
?1606 M. Drayton Man in Moone in Poemes sig. H4v Others [sc. shell-fish] agayn wide open that did yawn, And on the grauell spew'd their orient spawn.
1681 N. Grew Compar. Anat. Stomachs & Guts vii. 29 in Musæum Regalis Societatis The glands of the Guts are likewise of great Use. The Mucus which they spew, serves to make the Guts slippery.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 54 When Earth with Slime and Mud is cover'd o're, Or hollow places spue their wat'ry Store. View more context for this quotation
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) II. 120 The Frosts are apt to spew them out of the Ground.
1710 T. Fuller Pharmacopœia Extemporanea 250 It's useful to..hinder the Lympha's being plentifully spewed out of the Glands.
b. Const. forth, out, up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > let or send out [verb (transitive)] > eject
warpc1000
wreaka1300
out-throwa1393
excludec1400
shootc1400
spitc1400
deliver?a1425
outflingc1450
springc1480
bolka1522
vomit1552
spurge1582
out-braid1586
hurl1590
cast1601
spew1605
eject1607
ejaculate1609
spew1610
to cast out1611
throw1625
eructate1632
gullop1646
explode1660
to throw off1660
belch1668
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > have digestive disorder [verb (transitive)] > vomit
spew971
aspewc1200
to gulch out?c1225
casta1300
vomea1382
brake1393
evacuec1400
to cast outa1425
deliver?a1425
voida1425
evomec1450
evomit?a1475
disgorge1477
to cast up1483
degorge1493
vomish1536
retch1538
parbreak1540
reject1540
vomit1541
evacuate1542
revomit1545
belch1558
vomit1560
to lay up1570
upvomit1582
to fetch up1599
puke1601
respew1606
inbelch1610
spew1610
to throw up1614
exgurgitate1623
out-spew1647
egurgitate1656
to throw off1660
to bring up1719
pick1828
sick1924
yark1927
barf1960
to park the tiger1970
vom1991
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > let or send out [verb (transitive)] > expel > specific people from a place, position, or possession > with contempt or loathing
spew1610
1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie 7 And, least their pleasant gods should want delight, Neptune spues out the Lady Aphrodite.
1664 J. Evelyn Sylva (1679) 10 Your plants beginning now to peep, should be earthed up,..especially, after breaking of the greater Frosts, and when the swelling mould is apt to spue them forth.
1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 13 At such time as this place doth spue out its filth. View more context for this quotation
1727 M. Earbery tr. T. Burnet Of State of Dead I. iv. 214 The Sepulchres open'd their marble Jaws, and spew'd out their Dead.
1855 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. I. 138 If no high Mansion..Of morning visitants a mighty tide Spews forth from all its halls.
c. spec. To eject by volcanic action.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > convulsion > [verb (transitive)] > eject by volcanic action
spew1594
vomit1614
erupt1771
1594 T. Lodge & R. Greene Looking Glasse sig. E4v The hill of Scicely..spues out from below The smoakie brands that Vulueus bellowes driue.
1686 Bp. G. Burnet Some Lett. conc. Switzerland iv. 27 What can be the fuel of so lasting a burning, that hath calcined so much matter, and spewed out such prodigious quantities.
1690 T. Burnet Theory of Earth iii. 86 When the bowels of the earth begin to melt, and the mountains spew out streams of liquid fire.
1717 G. Berkeley Jrnls. Trav. Italy in Wks. (1955) VII. 328 It is pretended that in [the year] 31 hot waters were spew'd out of the crater.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre II. v. 132 A crater-crust which may crack and spue fire any day.
5. technical.† b. Of a gun: To throw out or drop (powder) instead of consuming it. Obsolete. rare.
a. To force or cause to ooze out by undue strain or pressure; spec. in Nautical use (see quot. 1863).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > cause to suffer shipwreck [verb (transitive)] > unseal (seams)
spew1570
uncaulk1608
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > let or send out [verb (transitive)] > emit > emit by exudation
sweat?c1225
oozea1398
distilc1400
constilc1430
degout?1504
stilla1530
spew1570
filter1582
deplore1601
evaporate1611
weep1634
collachrymate1657
elacrymate1657
exudate1671
exude17..
exstill1819
1570–1 High Court of Admiralty Exam. 18 17 Feb. Havinge her okam spewed owte.
1630 High Court of Admiralty Exam. 49 26 Aug. [A leaky ship] spewed the ocum out of her seames.
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 27 That which is thin, will cause the work to settle more in one place then in the other, and the joynts to spue out the Morter.
1863 A. Young Naut. Dict. (ed. 2) 365 A vessel is said to spue the oakum when her straining and labouring at sea forces the oakum out of the seams of her planks.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > fire (a gun) [verb (transitive)] > of gun: project (shot or missile) > throw out (powder)
spewa1642
a1642 W. Monson Naval Tracts (1704) iii. 344/1 The shorter Piece will spue her Powder.
6.
a. intransitive. Of water, liquids, etc.: To flow, pour, or run in a more or less copious stream; to ooze or be forced out or up. Usually const. with adverbs or prepositions. Now chiefly dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > go or come out [verb (intransitive)] > copiously or continuously
flowc825
outfloweOE
outstreama1275
streama1300
boilc1300
welta1400
buschc1400
waltc1400
outwellc1443
pour1538
outgush1558
gush1577
outpour1581
spew1670
well1812
sluice1859
the world > matter > liquid > liquid flow > action or process of flowing > flow [verb (intransitive)] > copiously > in (a) stream(s)
yetOE
strikea1225
streama1250
lavec1425
welterc1480
souse1591
spew1670
1670 J. Smith England's Improvem. Reviv'd 38 Being full of Landsprings (which is Water running within the Earth, and shews it self, or is discovered by breaking out, or spewing up in many places).
1675 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ (ed. 2) vii. §10. 123 The Sap or Gum will also spew out in that place.
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 136 It [sc. water] spues out of Chasmes, opened by the Earthquake, in great abundance.
1717 G. Berkeley in Life & Lett. (1871) iii. 79 This stuff would sometimes spew over and run down the convex side of the conical hill.
1784 J. Cullum Hist. & Antiq. Hawsted in Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica No. 23. 171 Sand-Galls; spots of sand in a field where water oozes, or, as we say, spews up.
1843 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 4 i. 40 The gravel..causes the land-springs to rise and spew out upon the surface.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xxii. 339 Avalanches of clay, rock, and uprooted forest spewed over the cliffs and fell upon the beach.
b. Of ground: To swell through excess of moisture; to slip or run when left unsupported.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > marsh, bog, or swamp > marsh [verb (intransitive)] > swell with moisture
spew1839
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > movement of material > [verb (intransitive)] > movement under gravity or water
spew1839
slump1844
creep1889
sludge1938
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > move downwards [verb (intransitive)] > slide down > specifically of earth
spew1876
1839 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 2 27/1 Stratford marshes, where the ground for a depth of eight feet is inclined to ‘spew up’.
1860 J. E. Worcester Dict. Eng. Lang. Spew, v.n., to swell, as wet land affected by frost, so as to throw seed out of the ground; as, ‘The ground spews’.
1876 C. C. Robinson Gloss. Words Dial. Mid-Yorks. (at cited word) In constructing a ‘sike’ for the drainage of land, gravelly earth will often break edge, and spew.
c. Gunnery. (See quot. 1842) rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΚΠ
1842 R. Burn Naval & Mil. Techn. Dict. French Lang. 154 Saigner du nez, to spew or run at the mouth, applied to a gun when, from too quick a fire, it bends at the chace, or the muzzle droops; also when, in firing at a great depression, the chace overbalances the breech.
7. Of bees: To swarm for the fourth time in one season.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [verb (intransitive)] > swarm (of bees) > for fourth time in season
spew1745
1745 W. Ellis Agric. Improv'd I. June xvi. 115 Bees will sometimes (but rarely) swarm, cast, colt, and spew, from one and the same old Stock of Bees in one Summer.
Derivatives
spewed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > [adjective] > ejecting > ejected
exspuate1608
spewed1633
ejected1756
exsputory1784
out-thrown1869
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island vii. lxxvii. 104 Insatiate sink, how with so generall stain Thy spu'd-out puddles court, town, fields entice!
ˈspewer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [noun] > vomiting > person
spewerc1000
vomiter1565
parbreaker1620
purger1976
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 108 Uomex, uel uomens, spiwere.
1606 F. Holyoake Dictionarium Etymologicum i. at Vomitar, in Riders Dict. (new ed.) Vomitor.., a spewer, or parbreaker.
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Een Braker, a Vomiter, or a Spewer.
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Een Spouwer, a Spetter, or a Spuer.
1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield Spuers, squibs; serpents; a kind of fireworks.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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