spew
/spjuː/verb, noun
spew is spelled S-P-E-W: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, spew means “To eject forcibly and in a stream” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in spew?
| Letters | 4: S-P-E-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is spew?
Spew appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce spew?
- /spjuː/
Spew has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-spew.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of spew
- spews present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- spewing participle, present
- spewed past, participle
- spewn participle, past, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spew mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To eject forcibly and in a stream.
- 2
To be forcibly ejected.
- 3
To speak or write quickly and voluminously, especially words that are not worth listening to or reading.
- 4
To be written or spoken voluminously.
- 5
informalTo vomit.
- 6
To ejaculate.
I rise at eleven, I dine about two, I get drunk before seven, and the next thing I do; I send for my whore, when for fear of a clap, I spend in her hand, and I spew in her lap
- 7
To develop a white powder or dark crystals on the surface of finished leather, as a result from improper tanning.
noun
- 1
slangVomit.
- 2
slangEjaculate or ejaculation.
- 3
Nonsense or lies.
- 4
Material that has been ejected in a stream, or the act of spewing.
- 5
A white powder or dark crystals that appear on the surface of improperly tanned leather.
- 6
Adhesive that is squeezed from a joint under pressure and held across the joint by a fillet, thereby strengthening the joint.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spew in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cracher, vomir |
| Spanish | parlar, macanear, desbarrar, cagar fuera del wáter, desvariar, disparatar |
| German | erbrechen, kotzen |
| Portuguese | vomitar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does spew come from?
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).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).