cuspidor

American  

[kuhs-pi-dawr] / ˈkʌs pɪˌdɔr /

noun

1. a large bowl, often of metal, serving as a receptacle for spit, especially from chewing tobacco: in wide use during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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cuspidor British  

/ ˈkʌspɪˌdɔː /

noun

1. another word (esp US) for spittoon

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Etymology

Origin of cuspidor

1770–80; < Portuguese: literally, spitter, equivalent to cusp ( ir ) to spit (≪ Latin conspuere to cover with spit; con- con- + spuere to spit ¹ ) + -idor < Latin -i-tōrium; -i-, -tory ²

Example Sentences

Just about everybody on the public payroll pitched in, from the municipal cuspidor cleaners to the foreman of vacuum cleaners at the county courthouse.

From Time Magazine Archive

Alney Chaffee made a lunge for it but it escaped him, with a resounding clank fell into a large brass cuspidor.

From Time Magazine Archive

In Paris, 30 smokers, each provided with a spittoon, cuspidor or bowl, met at the annual open-air smokers' tournament, established many records.

From Time Magazine Archive

Official Scorer Johnny Little, known as "the keeper of the cuspidor," cautions: "No licorice or other foreign matter mixed in."

From Time Magazine Archive

He spits out the coffee into a large brass cuspidor which is designed for the purpose.

From All About Coffee by Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)