spoondrift
UK /ˈspuːndɹɪft/ · US /ˈspundɹɪft/ noun
Also a form of spindrift
Forms spoondrifts spoon-drift
- noun (nautical, archaic) Alternative form of spindrift.
Synonyms
Etymology
Probably a variant of Scots spindrift. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests it is derived from spoon + drift (“mass of matter driven or forced onward together in a body, etc., especially by wind or water”), spoon being a variant of spoom (“to sail briskly with the wind astern, with or without sails hoisted”), but this is doubted by the Scottish National Dictionary: see spindrift.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Spray blown from the tops waves during a gale at sea; also, snow driven in the wind at sea; --written also spindrift.
Etymology [Spoom + drift.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “spoondrift”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details