sputter
sputter Lexical Profile
sputter Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To make a series of soft, explosive popping or spitting sounds, often while ejecting small droplets or sparks.
"The damp firewood began to hiss and sputter in the hearth before finally catching flame."
To proceed, function, or operate fitfully and weakly, often before failing altogether (of an engine, economy, or effort).
"After a promising start in the first quarter, the housing market began to sputter during the summer months."
To speak rapidly, incoherently, or with short bursts of sound due to anger, embarrassment, or shock.
"Caught completely off guard by the accusation, the official could only sputter in indignation."
To eject atoms from a solid target material by bombarding it with energetic particles, especially in order to deposit a thin film onto a substrate (in physics and materials science).
"The technicians sputtered a microscopic layer of gold onto the silicon wafer before imaging it with the electron microscope."
• noun
A series of soft, rapid, irregular popping or spitting sounds, or the act of making such sounds.
"With a final cough and a sputter, the antique tractor came to a complete halt in the middle of the field."
Hurried, confused, or incoherent speech uttered in a state of excitement or indignation.
"His response was a barely intelligible sputter of apologies and half-formed excuses."
Word Nuance & Usage
'Sputter' and 'splutter' are close synonyms, though 'sputter' is preferred in American English and for mechanical or physical processes (such as an engine or a physics deposition technique), whereas 'splutter' is more common in British English for choked or incoherent speech.
• Rhymes for sputter
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in the late 16th century, 'sputter' is an imitative frequentative formation, likely modeled on Dutch 'sputteren' ('to spit or spew') and related to the verb 'spout'.