spurt

/spɜːt/

//spɜːt// verb

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

"spurt" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spurt” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #35,532. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#35,532
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To cause to gush out suddenly or violently in a stream or jet.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spurt · spurt · English

spurt · rank #35,532 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #35,532
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sprouting

Nearest frequency peer: sprouting (-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 “spurt”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spurt” 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).

spurt vs sure
60% similar
spurt vs suit
60% similar
spurt vs surf
60% similar

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

Key facts for spurt
PropertyValue
Headwordspurt
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/spɜːt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#35,532
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spurt”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).spurtlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “sprouting” (#35,531), “sputtering” (#35,533), “spool” (#35,530). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spurt” is #35,532. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around spurt (IPA /spɜːt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #35,532 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for spurt, with forms such as "psurt", "sppurt", and "sprut". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sure", "suit", "surf", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier spirt, sprit (“to sprout”), from Middle English sprytten, from Old English spryttan, from Proto-West Germanic *spruttjan, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”). The correct English form is spurt, spelled S-P-U-R-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cause to gush out suddenly or violently in a stream or jet.
  2. 2
    To rush from a confined place in a small stream or jet.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Thus the small jet, which hasty hands unlock, / Spurts in the gardener's eyes who turns the cock.
  2. With that he pulled open his shirt, and with his long sharp nails opened a vein in his breast. When the blood began to spurt out, he took my hands in one of his, holding them tight, and with the other seized my neck and pressed my mouth to the wound, so that I must either suffocate or swallow some to the . . . Oh, my God! My God! What have I done?

Etymology

From earlier spirt, sprit (“to sprout”), from Middle English sprytten, from Old English spryttan, from Proto-West Germanic *spruttjan, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”).

Synonyms

spout

This word in other languages

gicler(Français)spritzen(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psurt
  • sppurt
  • sprut
  • spurrt
  • spurtt
  • sputr
  • sspurt
  • suprt

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spurt - 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.

psurt2sppurt1sprut2spurrt1spurtt1sputr2sspurt1suprt2
Edit distance from "spurt"

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 "spurt"?
"spurt" is spelled S-P-U-R-T. The IPA pronunciation is /spɜːt/.
What does "spurt" mean?
As a verb, "spurt" means: To cause to gush out suddenly or violently in a stream or jet.
What words are commonly confused with "spurt"?
"spurt" is commonly confused with "sure", "suit", "surf". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spurt"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spurt" is /spɜːt/. 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 "spurt"?
From earlier spirt, sprit (“to sprout”), from Middle English sprytten, from Old English spryttan, from Proto-West Germanic *spruttjan, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”). 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 "spurt", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

spool#35,530Sunil#35,544teary#35,553seton#35,508

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

sombre8 variantstryna8 variantsrefuel8 variantsRawls8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list