spew

/spjuː/

//spjuː// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"spew" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spew” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #33,028. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#33,028
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To eject forcibly and in a stream,

Corpus desk

Index EN-spew · spew · English

spew · rank #33,028 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #33,028
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH spieth

Nearest frequency peer: spieth (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “spew”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “spew” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

spew vs SW
0% similar
spew vs spy
50% similar
spew vs sue
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for spew
PropertyValue
Headwordspew
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/spjuː/
Letters4
Frequency rank#33,028
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spew”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).spewlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “spieth” (#33,029), “spanked” (#33,026), “sportswear” (#33,030). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spew” is #33,028. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around spew (IPA /spjuː/), averb. Corpus frequency is #33,028 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for spew, with forms such as "psew", "sepw", and "speww". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SW", "spy", "sue", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English spewen, from Old English spīwan, from Proto-West Germanic *spīwan, from Proto-Germanic *spīwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ptyēw- (“to spit, vomit”). Germanic cognates include English spit, West Frisian spije, Dutch spuien, Dutch spuw… The correct English form is spew, spelled S-P-E-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    To eject forcibly and in a stream,
  2. 2
    To be forcibly ejected.
  3. 3
    To speak or write quickly and voluminously, especially words that are not worth listening to or reading.
  4. 4
    To be written or spoken voluminously.
  5. 5
    To vomit.
  6. 6
    To ejaculate.
  7. 7
    To develop a white powder or dark crystals on the surface of finished leather, as a result from improper tanning.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how spew appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. But you get to the beach via monorail and you get to the sand and look out to the ocean and all you see is oil tankers and factories spewing smoke on the horizon. It was like some sort of futuristic dystopia.
  2. The blow is not as severe as those to his leg. It is meant only to break, not crush. Blood and internal fluids spew from his nose.

Etymology

From Middle English spewen, from Old English spīwan, from Proto-West Germanic *spīwan, from Proto-Germanic *spīwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ptyēw- (“to spit, vomit”). Germanic cognates include English spit, West Frisian spije, Dutch spuien, Dutch spuwen, Low German speen, spiien, German speien (“to spew, spit, vomit”), Swedish spy, Danish spy, Faroese spýggja, Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (speiwan). Also cognate, through Indo-European, with Latin spuō (“spit”, verb), Ancient Greek πτύω (ptúō, “spit, vomit”), Albanian fyt (“throat”), Armenian թուք (tʻukʻ), Russian плева́ть (plevátʹ), Persian تف (tof), Sanskrit ष्ठीवति (ṣṭhī́vati).

This word in other languages

parlar(Español)cracher(Français)erbrechen(Deutsch)vomitar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psew
  • sepw
  • speww
  • sppew
  • spwe
  • sspew

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spew - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

psew2sepw2speww1sppew1spwe2sspew1
Edit distance from "spew"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "spew"?
"spew" is spelled S-P-E-W. The IPA pronunciation is /spjuː/.
What does "spew" mean?
As a verb, "spew" means: To eject forcibly and in a stream,
What words are commonly confused with "spew"?
"spew" is commonly confused with "SW", "spy", "sue". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spew"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spew" is /spjuː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "spew"?
From Middle English spewen, from Old English spīwan, from Proto-West Germanic *spīwan, from Proto-Germanic *spīwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ptyēw- (“to spit, vomit”). Germanic cognates include English spit, West Frisian spije, Dutch spuien, ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "spew", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

snub#33,022thud#33,056trad#33,063wail#33,078

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

suave6 variantstibia6 variantspooja6 variantswhiz6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list