spew

1 of 3

verb

ˈspyü How to pronounce spew (audio)
spewed; spewing; spews
Synonyms of spewnext

intransitive verb

1
: vomit
2
: to come forth in a flood or gush
3
: to ooze out as if under pressure : exude

transitive verb

1
: vomit
2
: to send or cast forth with vigor or violence or in great quantity
a volcano spewing out ash
—often used with out
spewer noun

spew

2 of 3

noun (1)

1
: matter that is vomited : vomit
2
: material that exudes or is extruded

spewer

3 of 3

noun (2)

spew·​er
-üə(r), 
-u̇(ə)r, 
-u̇ə
plural -s
: one that spews

Synonyms of spew

Relevance

Verb

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of spew in a Sentence

Verb Exhaust spewed out of the car. Smoke and ashes spewed from the volcano. The volcano spewed hot ash. The faucet started spewing dirty water. The dog spewed vomit on the rug.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
Warehouses soon moved in to the area and have been spewing gases into the adjacent neighborhoods ever since. — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2026 The warming comes from greenhouse gas pollution, which is spewed into the atmosphere whenever fossil fuels are burned. — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 24 June 2026
Noun
Explosive natural gas spews from broken pipes on the lower floors. — Kansas City Star, 22 May 2026 DeLillo was not the only literary giant to be drawn into that spew. — Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 20 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for spew

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English spīwan; akin to Old High German spīwan to spit, Latin spuere, Greek ptyein

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of spew was before the 12th century

Rhymes for spew

See All Rhymes for spew

Browse Nearby Words

spetch
spew
spewer
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Spew.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spew. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

spew

1 of 2 verb
ˈspyü How to pronounce spew (audio)
: to send or come out in a flood or gush

spew

2 of 2 noun
: matter that is spewed out

More from Merriam-Webster on spew

Nglish: Translation of spew for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All