Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A sudden forcible gush or jet.
- noun A sudden short burst, as of energy, activity, or growth.
- intransitive verb To gush forth suddenly in a jet.
- intransitive verb To make a brief intense effort or show a sudden increase in activity or speed.
- intransitive verb To force out in a sudden jet.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To sprout; shoot.
- To gush or issue out suddenly in a stream, as liquor from a cask; rush with sudden force from a confined place in a small jet or stream.
- To throw or force out in a jet or stream; squirt; as, to
spurt water from the mouth; to spurt liquid from a tube. - To make a short, sudden, and exceptional effort; put forth one's utmost energy for a short time, especially in racing.
- noun A shoot; a sprout; a bud.
- noun A forcible gush of liquid from a confined place; a jet.
- noun A brief and sudden outbreak.
- noun A school of shad.
- noun A short, sudden, extraordinary effort for an emergency; a special exertion of one's self for a short distance or space of time, as in running, rowing, etc.: as, by a fine spurt he obtained the lead.
- noun A short period; a brief interval of time.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To throw out, as a liquid, in a stream or jet; to drive or force out with violence, as a liquid from a pipe or small orifice.
- intransitive verb To gush or issue suddenly or violently out in a stream, as liquor from a cask; to rush from a confined place in a small stream or jet; to spirt.
- noun A sudden and energetic effort, as in an emergency; an increased exertion for a brief space.
- noun A sudden or violent ejection or gushing of a liquid, as of water from a tube, orifice, or other confined place, or of blood from a wound; a jet; a spirt.
- noun obsolete A shoot; a bud.
- noun A sudden outbreak.
- noun (Bot.) a rush fit for basket work.
- intransitive verb To make a sudden and violent exertion, as in an emergency.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
cause togush out suddenly or violently in astream orjet . - verb intransitive To
rush from a confined place in a small stream or jet. - verb intransitive To make a strong
effort for a short period of time. - noun A brief gush, as of
liquid spurting from anorifice or acut /wound . - noun slang
Ejaculation ofsemen - noun Any sudden but not prolonged
action .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb move or act with a sudden increase in speed or energy
- verb gush forth in a sudden stream or jet
- noun the occurrence of a sudden discharge (as of liquid)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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We all know what happened that day, but what is happening now especially in the arts community, which is essential to New Orleans both past and hopefully future, reminds me of the first sprigs of green that spurt from the ashes after a forest fire.
Stumps 2006
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This whole recent spurt is largely concentrated among kids of the upper middle class. ...
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We all know what happened that day, but what is happening now especially in the arts community, which is essential to New Orleans both past and hopefully future, reminds me of the first sprigs of green that spurt from the ashes after a forest fire.
August 2006 2006
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Mills 'driving basket 4: 13 before halftime capped a 7-0 Stephen F. Austin spurt that cut it to 33-19, but Arizona State outscored the Ladyjacks 13-4 the rest of the half.
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I don’t think your current growth spurt is helping, because it makes you fall over all the time.
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"Look, they got these things they call spurt bombs.
I Don’t Understand ? Jack Varnell 2010
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Certainly, the rise in service-industry activity could at least partially be explained by what Vicky Redwood, senior U.K. economist at Capital Economics, called a "spurt" of public spending as government departments sought to use up their budgets in the old financial year.
Sterling's Rally May Soon Be a Memory Nicholas Hastings 2011
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The one constant during the spurt has been a defensive mind-set that was missing early this season.
USATODAY.com 2007
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The renewed hope for a Redskins postseason renaissance springs from Campbell's offseason growth spurt, which is exactly what coach Joe Gibbs and Saunders sought.
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The far better choice is the Special Prosecutor, it would enable less personal involvement and political liability for the Democrats and impeachments usually rally sympathy votes for a party under that threat-recall the spurt of popularity for Clinton during the impeachment process and his leaving office with a 69% approval rating.
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