Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A bowl-shaped, usually metal vessel, often with a funnel-shaped cover, into which tobacco chewers periodically spit.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A vessel for receiving what is spit from the mouth; especially, a round vessel of metal, earthenware, or porcelain, made in the form of a funnel at the top, and having a bowl-shaped compartment beneath, which may be partly filled with water; a cuspidor.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A spitbox; a cuspidor.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a
receptacle forspit . - noun the absorbent pad an ink cartridge rests on in an
inkjet printer .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a receptacle for spit (usually in a public place)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Oh -- the way you get your foot out of a spittoon is just to unlace your shoe and take your foot out of it.
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From its sloping internal form it might have been called the spittoon of the Jotuns.
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From its sloping internal form it might have been called the spittoon of the Jotuns.
The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1884
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On the table was placed all his text books and such other teacher's implements, or fixings, and then to descend as it were from the "sublime to the ridiculous," he installed, within easy reach, a large earthen "spittoon," or more modernly speaking, "cuspidor."
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Did he not know that the very "spittoon" which his judgeship used cost the city the sum of one thousand dollars?
The Gilded Age, Part 6. Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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Did he not know that the very "spittoon" which his judgeship used cost the city the sum of one thousand dollars?
The Gilded Age A tale of today Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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“I guess I’d rather be shot for adultery than for missing my aim at a goddamn spittoon, which is what Kate’s so mad about.”
Telegraph Days Larry Mcmurtry 2006
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There are some very amusing moments, not least when the central character, Miles Raymond Paul Giamatti, threatens to leave if somebody orders Merlot and a rather revolting episode involving a spittoon.
Cinematic Reflections Will Lyons 2011
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I met his children, and his gouty father-in-law seated by a spittoon.
Before Liberty Was a Lady Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011
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I'd like to thank Wines of Chile for sending me the 8 wines (and the spittoon and corkscrew) and for hosting the tasting.
Wines of Chile Online Tasting: Because Man Can't Live on Only New York Wines 2009
whichbe commented on the word spittoon
A wacky droplet with a big smile and googly eyes.
October 15, 2008