spit
/spɪt/noun, verb
spit is spelled S-P-I-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 7.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,918th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, spit means “A thin metal or wooden rod on which meat is skewered for cooking, often over a fire” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of spit is spits.
How many letters and syllables are in spit?
| Letters | 4: S-P-I-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.1 times per million words; the 8,918th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is spit?
Spit appears 7.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,918th 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 spit?
- US /spɪt/
Spit 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-spit.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with spit?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as spit from its last stressed vowel (/ɪt/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: tips, stip.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of spit
- spits plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- spitting participle, present
- spitted participle, past
- spat participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spit mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A thin metal or wooden rod on which meat is skewered for cooking, often over a fire.
- 2
A generally low, narrow, pointed, usually sandy peninsula or bar.
- 3
Saliva, especially when expectorated.
There was spit all over the washbasin.
- 4
An instance of spitting; specifically, a light fall of rain or snow.
- 5
Likeness; used, usually in set phrases (see spitting image) of a person who exactly resembles someone else.
- 6
Synonym of slam (“card game”).
- 7
The depth to which the blade of a spade goes into the soil when it is used for digging; a layer of soil of the depth of a spade's blade.
- 8
The amount of soil that a spade holds; a spadeful.
verb
- 1
To impale on a spit; to pierce with a sharp object.
to spit a loin of veal
- 2
To use a spit to cook; to attend to food that is cooking on a spit.
She’s spitting the roast in the kitchen.
- 3
To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.
- 4
To emit or expel in a manner similar to evacuating saliva from the mouth.
a hot pan spitting droplets of fat
- 5
To rain or snow slightly.
Does it rain? – It's nobbut spitting a bit.
- 6
To utter (something) violently.
- 7
To make a spitting sound, like an angry cat.
- 8
slangTo rap, to utter.
- 9
slang(in the form spitting) To spit facts; to tell the truth.
He's spitting for sure.
- 10
To dig (something) using a spade; also, to turn (the soil) using a plough.
- 11
To plant (something) using a spade.
- 12
To dig, to spade.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of spam over Internet telephony.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | broche , embrocher , cracher , crachat , crachement |
| German | Spieß , aufspießen , spucken , Speichel , Nehrung, Landzunge |
| Portuguese | espeto , espetar , cuspir , cuspe, cuspo , ponta |
| Spanish | asador, espeto, espetón, espedo, picudo, fierro |
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 spit come from?
The noun is from Middle English spit, spite, spete, spette, spyte, spytte (“rod on which meat is cooked; rod used as a torture instrument; short spear; point of a spear; spine in the fin of a fish; pointed object; dagger symbol; land projecting into the sea”), from Old English spitu (“rod on which meat is cooked; spit”), from Proto-Germanic *spitō (“rod; skewer; spike”), *spituz (“rod on which meat is cooked; stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *speyd-, *spey- (“sharp; sharp stick”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).