Spit vs Swallow - What's the difference?
spit | swallow |
A rod on which meat is grilled (UK English) or broiled (US English).
A narrow, pointed, usually sandy peninsula.
* 1881 , :
The depth to which a spade goes in digging; a spade; a spadeful.
To impale on a spit.
* Shakespeare
To attend to a spit; to use a spit.
To spade; to dig.
(transitive) To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth.
* 1994 , (Stephen Fry), (The Hippopotamus) Chapter 2
To rain or snow slightly, or with sprinkles.
* Charles Dickens
To utter violently.
* 1915 , , Shadows of Flames , page 240 [http://books.google.com/books?id=-9AcAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA240&dq=spat]:
* 2004 , edition, ISBN 0743483790, chapter 3, page 23 [http://books.google.com/books?id=d9F9MUiOQD4C&pg=PA23&dq=spat]:
(transitive, slang, hip-hop) To utter.
* 2005 , Giselle Zado Wasfie, So Fly
(uncountable) Saliva]], especially when [[expectorate, expectorated.
(countable) An instance of spitting.
To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat.
* 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4:
* 2011 , Jonathan Jones, The Guardian , 21 Apr 2011:
To take (something) in so that it disappears; to consume, absorb.
* John Locke
* 2010 , "What are the wild waves saying", The Economist , 28 Oct 2010:
To take food down into the stomach; to make the muscular contractions of the oesophagus to achieve this, often taken as a sign of nervousness or strong emotion.
* 1979 , VC Andrews, Flowers in the Attic :
To accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept.
* Sir Thomas Browne
* 2011 , Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian , 22 Apr 2011:
To engross; to appropriate; usually with up .
* Alexander Pope
To retract; to recant.
* Shakespeare
To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation.
(archaic) A deep chasm or abyss in the earth.
The amount swallowed in one gulp; the act of swallowing.
A small, migratory bird of the Hirundinidae family with long, pointed, moon-shaped wings and a forked tail which feeds on the wing by catching insects.
(nautical) The aperture in a block through which the rope reeves.
As nouns the difference between spit and swallow
is that spit is a rod on which meat is grilled (uk english) or broiled (us english) or spit can be (uncountable) saliva]], especially when [[expectorate|expectorated while swallow is (archaic) a deep chasm or abyss in the earth or swallow can be a small, migratory bird of the hirundinidae family with long, pointed, moon-shaped wings and a forked tail which feeds on the wing by catching insects.As verbs the difference between spit and swallow
is that spit is to impale on a spit or spit can be (transitive) to evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth while swallow is to cause (food, drink etc) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat.spit
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) spitu , from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- Or perhaps he may see a group of washerwomen relieved, on a spit of shingle, against the blue sea [..]
- (Halliwell)
Verb
(spitt)- to spit a loin of veal
- infants spitted upon pikes
- She's spitting in the kitchen.
Etymology 2
From (etyl) spittan, from (etyl) (compare Danish spytte, Swedish spotta), from (etyl) Ayto, John, Dictionary of Word Origins , Arcade Publishing, New York, 1990, of imitiative origin (see spew)spew], [[w:Online Etymology Dictionary, Online Etymology Dictionary], Douglas Harper
Verb
- Don't spit on the street.
- The teacher told her to spit out her bubble gum.
- At the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. Disgusted with himself at such cowardice, he spat a needle from his mouth, stepped back from the tree and listened. There were no sounds of any movement upstairs: no shouts, no sleepy grumbles, only a gentle tinkle from the decorations as the tree had recovered from the collision.
- It had been spitting with rain.
- "Why, you little emasculated Don Juan— You—" he spat an unmentionable name— "d'you think I'd fight one of your tin-soldier farces with you? Clear out!"
- "Gentleman? You?" he spat .
- A group of black guys were spitting rhymes in the corner, slapping hands and egging one another on.
Usage notes
* Spit'' as the past form is common only in the US, while ''spat is common everywhere.Synonyms
* expectorateDerived terms
* spit it out * spit nails * spitting chips * spitting distanceNoun
- There was spit all over the washbasin.
Synonyms
* expectoration, salivaDerived terms
* spitball * spit-cup * spitshine * spittoon * spit wadAnagrams
* * *swallow
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) swolowen, swolwen, . See also (l). The noun is from late (etyl) , from the verb.Alternative forms
* (l), (l) (obsolete)Verb
(en verb)- What the liquor was I do not know, but it was not so strong but that I could swallow it in great gulps and found it less burning than my burning throat.
- Clothes are to be worn and food is to be swallowed : they remain trapped in the physical world.
- The necessary provision of the life swallows the greatest part of their time.
- His body, like so many others swallowed by the ocean’s hungry maw, was never found.
- My throat was so sore that I was unable to swallow .
- She swallowed nervously then, appearing near sick with what she had to say.
- Though that story be not so readily swallowed .
- Americans swallowed his tale because they wanted to.
- Homer excels in this, that he swallowed up the honour of those who succeeded him.
- to swallow one's opinions
- swallowed his vows whole
- to swallow an affront or insult
Derived terms
* bitter pill to swallow * swallowable * swallow one's pride * swallow upSee also
* dysphagiaNoun
(en noun)- He took the aspirin with a single swallow of water.