Meaning & use
spit it out
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Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformal
Used to tell someone to stop hesitating and say what they are trying to say.
Grammar: Stands alone as a command; you can add a name after it: Spit it out, Tom!
Patterns
- Spit it out!
- Come on, spit it out.
- spit it out, someone
You've been trying to tell me something all morning — just spit it out.
Come on, spit it out, we don't have all day.
She took a breath and finally spat it out: she was leaving the company.
phrasefixed phraseinformal
Used to urge someone to say a piece of information quickly and without delay.
Grammar: Often followed by a question word or a noun phrase about the missing information.
Patterns
- spit it out about something
- spit out what happened
If you know who took the money, spit it out.
He wouldn't spit it out, no matter how many times we asked.
Common combinations
- just spit it out
- Stop beating around the bush and just spit it out.
- come on, spit it out
- Come on, spit it out — what did she say?
- finally spit it out
- After ten minutes of stammering, he finally spat it out.
- spit it out already
- Spit it out already! I'm not getting any younger.
- refuse to spit it out
- The witness refused to spit it out in front of the cameras.
Synonyms and how they differ
- out with it
- Very close in meaning and also informal, but it sounds slightly more old-fashioned and is used mostly in British English.
- say it
- Neutral and direct; it does not carry the impatient 'stop hesitating' feeling that spit it out has.
- speak up
- This asks someone to talk louder or to state an opinion openly, not to stop hesitating over a secret.
Word family
- spit verb
- To force liquid or food out of your mouth; also used in this idiom.
- spit out phrasal verb
- To push something out of your mouth, or to say words sharply and angrily.
Commonly confused: spit it out or spit up?
spit it out vs spit up
A different phrasal verb meaning to bring food back up from the stomach, often used about babies; it has nothing to do with speaking.
Practice
Your friend keeps starting a sentence and stopping. Which is the most natural way to urge them to continue?
Choose one answer.
'Spit it out!' is the fixed informal idiom for telling someone to stop hesitating and say something. 'Spit up' means to vomit food, and 'spit on/at' means to send saliva onto someone or something, so neither fits this situation.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “spit it out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.