sputter

[ spuht-er ]

verb (used without object)

1. to make explosive popping or sizzling sounds.
2. to emit particles, sparks, etc., forcibly or explosively, especially accompanied by sputtering sounds.
3. to eject particles of saliva, food, etc., from the mouth in a light spray, as when speaking angrily or excitedly.
4. to utter or spit out words or sounds explosively or incoherently, as when angry or flustered.

verb (used with object)

1. to emit (anything) forcibly and in small particles, as if by spitting:

   The fire sputtered cinders.

2. to eject (saliva, food, etc.) in small particles explosively and involuntarily, as in excitement.
3. to utter explosively and incoherently.

noun

1. the act or sound of sputtering.
2. explosive, incoherent utterance.
3. matter ejected in sputtering.

sputter

/ ˈspʌtə /

verb

1. another word for splutter splutter splutter
2. physics
   1. to undergo or cause to undergo a process in which atoms of a solid are removed from its surface by the impact of high-energy ions, as in a discharge tube
   2. to coat (a film of a metal) onto (a solid surface) by using this process

noun

1. the process or noise of sputtering
2. incoherent stammering speech
3. something that is ejected while sputtering

Derived Forms

• ˈsputterer, noun

Other Words From

• sputter·er noun
• sputter·ing·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of sputter¹

1590–1600; sput- (variant of spout ) + -er ⁶; cognate with Dutch sputteren

Word History and Origins

Origin of sputter¹

C16: from Dutch sputteren, of imitative origin

Example Sentences

The cell’s energy factory, the mitochondria, sputters and malfunctions.

From Singularity Hub 

They continue to sputter up and down, without fully recovering.

From The Daily Beast

If the only policy tool you allow yourself to use is tax credits, your reform agenda will sputter into ineffectuality.

From The Daily Beast

Here's one graf: The Woodward reporting has caused the White House spin machine to sputter at a crucial time.

From The Daily Beast

And racial divisions may become worse if the economy continues to sputter.

From The Daily Beast

The veranda, roofless and open to the bitter blue sky where the seasonal gu rains sputter, serves as a makeshift neonatal ward.

From The Daily Beast

She glanced uneasily at Gwynne and fancied she could hear him slam the lid of his breeding upon a supercilious sputter.

From Project Gutenberg

She laughed so hard that she blew the ashes out of her pipe, and they showered down over my face, and made me wink and sputter.

From Project Gutenberg

Welcome worked the requisite levers, the machine began to sputter, and the boys gave it a shove.

From Project Gutenberg

With a wheezy sputter, it stopped dead, refusing to answer the frantic twists Perry gave the handle-bars.

From Project Gutenberg

Then all they'll do is buzz and sputter until the feedback is broken with the key.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• falter
• stammer
• stutter