Spitter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An object used to catch or spray saliva or other liquids ; a person who forcibly expels saliva from the mouth
2. A vessel or tool designed to collect spit or to spray fluids ; an individual known for frequently or forcefully spitting
3. Equipment intended for catching or dispersing spit or fluids ; someone who habitually ejects saliva from their mouth

Etymology: Spit, the thing you roast meat on, came first. The word traces back to Old English "spitu" and ultimately to a root shared across Germanic languages, meaning a pointed rod. Its later sense of expelling saliva developed from the same idea of something thrust out or pushed forth from the mouth or a point. The agent suffix "-er" was added to spit, giving a word that originally meant a person or thing that spits, and this is the sense that gave rise to the modern meanings. Someone who habitually ejects saliva fits that pattern directly, and so does equipment built to catch or disperse fluids. The "-er" ending itself came into English from Old English "-ere," which had the same job of marking someone or something that performs an action. The construction is plain and transparent, built on an everyday noun and a long-established suffix.

Synonyms: spitter, sprayer