Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To spatter (a surface or object), especially to soil with splashes of liquid.
  • intransitive verb To cause (a liquid) to fall on a surface or object.
  • intransitive verb To spatter, especially to fall or strike something so as to cause splashes.
  • noun A splash of liquid.
  • adjective Characterized by gory violence.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make a noise, as in dashing water about; splash; cast or scatter about.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • verb To spatter; to splash.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An uneven shape or mess created by something dispersing on impact.
  • noun attributive A genre of gory horror.
  • verb intransitive To splash; to scatter; to land or strike in an uneven, distributed mess.
  • verb transitive To cause (something) to splatter.
  • verb transitive To spatter (something or somebody).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small quantity of something moist or liquid
  • verb cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container
  • verb dash a liquid upon or against
  • noun the noise of something spattering or sputtering explosively

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps blend of splash and spatter.]

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Examples

  • What I was trying to do with this movie is to bridge the gap that's always separated what we call a splatter film from more conventional entertainment.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Network Awesome 2011

  • Then my droogies, let's keep the torture out of the headlines and back in Italian splatter movies and horror comics where it belongs - OK?

    Fass times 5! hyperdave 2009

  • Then my droogies, let's keep the torture out of the headlines and back in Italian splatter movies and horror comics where it belongs - OK?

    Archive 2009-05-01 hyperdave 2009

  • I also think the MySpace attitude towards layout (the erm, ability to fully express oneself, aka splatter pukalicious CSS everywhere) is one of the major reasons MySpace stuck.

    Massive Korean Social Network CyWorld Launches in US Marshall Kirkpatrick 2005

  • Sometimes horror is pure entertainment, over the top gore and splatter, which is fun because it's so ridiculously extreme.

    the pen is mightier than the spork 2010

  • So unfolds Streets of Blood, an appropriately titled splatter flick featuring both incessant action and a very complicated, multi-layered mystery which I dare not spoil by revealing any further details.

    Black Entertainment : Black News : Urban News : Hip Hop News - EURweb.com 2009

  • They have replaced the engine, installed electronic ignition, and an oil filter -- the car, when built, didn't have one, relying instead on what Roy called a splatter system.

    Yakima Herald-Republic Weekly News 2009

  • Specifically, this fine collectible is an "Extra Filthy Bloody Edition" Allin figurine "loaded into a full color" splatter "box."

    Boing Boing 2009

  • Other times, work that was never intended to be mistaken for the real thing (such as splatter paintings "in the style of" Jackson Pollock used by interior decorators) find their way into the market — and are assumed to be lost masterpieces.

    The Frida Fighters 2010

  • I use it when I want to get a nice "splatter" effect on cakes and cookies.

    Archive 2009-05-01 Lara Starr 2009

Comments

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  • Like a bouncer, but more forceful.

    August 30, 2011