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Added 9 October 2026

spray

/spɹeɪ/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about spray at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid.
The sailor could feel the spray from the waves.
Something resembling a spray of liquid.
A pressurized container; an atomizer.

verb

To project a liquid in a dispersive manner toward something.
The firemen sprayed the house.
To project in a dispersive manner.
Spray some ointment on that scratch.
To project many small items dispersively.

noun

A small branch of flowers or berries.
The bridesmaid carried a spray of lily-of-the-valley.
A collective body of small branches.
The tree has a beautiful spray.
Branches and twigs collectively; foliage.

Origin

From Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, scatter”). Cognate with Middle High German spræjen, spræwen (“to squirt, spray, dust, splash, straw”), Danish dialectal språe (“to open up, burst forth”), Swedish dialectal språ (“to sprout, shoot forth, burst”), Norwegian dialectal spra, spræ (“to splash, splatter, spout, burst forth”), Dutch sproeien (“to spray, sprinkle”), German sprühen (“to spray, sparkle”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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