1 A2 neutral
To forcefully push something out of your mouth
"He tasted the medicine and immediately spat it out."
separable
spit out
B1 neutral separable transitive
To forcefully eject something from the mouth, or to say something angrily and abruptly
In plain English
To push something out of your mouth, or to say something in an angry, sharp way
What does "spit out" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B1 idiomatic informal
To say something angrily, bitterly, or with great force
""You lied to me," she spat out, her voice shaking with rage."
separable
3 B2 idiomatic informal
Of a machine or system, to produce or output something rapidly
"The terminal spat out an error message before the program crashed."
separable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To force something outward from the mouth — partially transparent
Actually means
To push something out of your mouth, or to say something in an angry, sharp way
Usage tip
In the physical sense, used when someone rejects food or a foreign object from the mouth. In the figurative sense, it captures the tone of someone speaking with anger, bitterness, or contempt. Also used for machines outputting data rapidly ('the printer spits out pages').
Words that pair with "spit out"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
words insults seeds food data pages
How to conjugate "spit out"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
spit out
I/you/we/they
3rd person
spits out
he/she/it
Past simple
spited out
yesterday
Past participle
spited out
have + pp
-ing form
spiting out
continuous
Hear "spit out" in the wild
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Other ways to say "spit out"
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