spat1
/spat
/ Past and past participle of spit1.
Rhymes
spat2
/spat/noun
1 (usually spats) historical A short cloth gaiter covering the instep and ankle.His father was dressed in a rubber macintosh, with thick domestic gloves, spats, and a trilby hat....
- Flustered, the blonde boy untied his spats, and took off one of his sock-shoes, sort of hopping around on one foot while doing so.
- You can also take off those spats and gauntlets.
2A cover for the upper part of an aircraft wheel.
Origin
Early 19th century: abbreviation of spatterdash.
spat3
/spat/informal
noun
A quarrel about an unimportant matter: when we had our little spats, he had only to smile to get back on the right side of me...
- Almost immediately they run into a pointless spat with local tough guys that spirals into a violent feud.
- They're typical brothers, so they get into these little spats with each other sometimes, and they separate them.
- Soon after we met, Slater was in the papers again after his wife allegedly broke a glass over his head during a violent spat.
verb (spats, spatting, spatted) [no object]
Quarrel about an unimportant matter: people expected him and his wife to spat continually...
- The latest trouble to hit Airbus involves a transatlantic spat over aircraft subsidies.
Origin
Early 19th century (originally a US colloquial usage): probably imitative.
spat4
/spat/noun [mass noun]
The spawn or larvae of shellfish, especially oysters: oyster larvae attach themselves as spat to old shells
Origin
Mid 17th century: from Anglo-Norman French, of unknown ultimate origin.