spew

/spju/

/spju/

Other forms: spewing; spewed; spews

To spew is to forcefully expel something, the way a volcano spews hot lava when it erupts, or the way you might spew soda from your mouth if your friend makes you laugh right after you take a big gulp.

You might see steam spew from the factory near your house or watch a city bus spew smoke from its exhaust pipe. Figuratively, to spew can also mean "to say ugly or hateful things," and some people also use it to mean "vomit." The Old English source of spew is spiwan ("to spit") and comes from a root that probably imitated the sound of someone spitting.

Definitions of spew

1. verb

   eject or send out in large quantities (also metaphorical)
   “the volcano spews out molten rocks every day”

   “The editors of the paper spew out hostile articles about the Presidential candidate”

   synonyms: eruct, spew out

   type of:

   discharge, eject, exhaust, expel, release

   eliminate (a substance)
2. verb

   expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth
   synonyms: ptyalise, ptyalize, spit, spue

   type of:

   cough out, cough up, expectorate, spit out, spit up

   discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth
3. verb

   eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth
   synonyms: barf, be sick, chuck, disgorge, regurgitate, throw up, vomit, vomit up

   type of:

   egest, eliminate, excrete, pass

   eliminate from the body