“sputtered” is a form of
sputter
/ˈspʌtɚ/ noun, verb
Forms sputters sputtering sputtered
- noun Moist matter thrown out in small detached particles.
- noun Confused and hasty speech.
- verb (intransitive) To emit saliva or spit from the mouth in small, scattered portions, as in rapid speaking.
- verb (ambitransitive) To speak so rapidly as to emit saliva; to utter words hastily and indistinctly, with a spluttering sound, as in rage.
- verb (ambitransitive) To throw out anything, as little jets of steam, with a noise like that made by one sputtering.
- verb (physics, intransitive) To cause surface atoms or electrons of a solid to be ejected by bombarding it with heavy atoms or ions.
- verb (physics, transitive) To coat the surface of an object by sputtering.
Synonyms
stutter spatter spattering splatter splattering splutter sputtering clamber scramble shin shinny skin struggle spit out
Etymology
Probably representing Middle English *sputren, *sputrien, a frequentative form of Middle English sputen (“to spout, vomit”), equivalent to spout + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian spüttern (“to inject, spray, splash”), West Frisian sputterje (“to sputter”), Dutch sputteren (“to sputter”), Low German sputtern, spruttern (“to sprinkle”), German sprudeln (“to spout, squirt”). Compare splutter.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To spit, or to emit saliva from the mouth in small, scattered portions, as in rapid speaking.
- verb To utter words hastily and indistinctly; to speak so rapidly as to emit saliva.
- verb To spit out hastily by quick, successive efforts, with a spluttering sound; to utter hastily and confusedly, without control over the organs of speech.
- noun Moist matter thrown out in small detached particles; also, confused and hasty speech.
Etymology [From the root of spout or spit to eject from the mputh. Cf. Splutter.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sputter”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details