Meaning & use
squirting
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“squirting” is a form of “squirt”.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitiveinformal
Sending a thin, fast stream of liquid out of a small opening.
Grammar: With an object: squirting water; without an object: water squirting out of the hose.
Patterns
- squirt something at someone
- squirt something onto something
- squirt out of something
The children were squirting each other with water pistols.
Juice kept squirting out of the grapefruit as she cut it.
He is squirting soap onto the sponge.
verbtransitiveinformal
Hitting or covering someone or something with a quick jet of liquid.
Grammar: Takes a person or thing as its object: squirting the plants.
Patterns
- squirt someone with something
The gardener is squirting the roses with insect spray.
She was squirting the cat with a water bottle to keep it off the counter.
He is squirting the windshield before he wipes it.
Word forms
| base form | squirt |
|---|---|
| third person singular | squirts |
| past tense | squirted |
| past participle | squirted |
Common combinations
- squirting water
- The dolphin was squirting water at the crowd.
- squirting out
- Ketchup was squirting out of the broken bottle.
- squirting ketchup
- He was squirting ketchup all over his fries.
- squirting cream
- The baker was squirting cream onto the cakes.
- squirting with a hose
- The kids were squirting each other with a hose.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spraying
- It covers a wider, spread-out jet of droplets, while squirting is a narrow, sudden stream.
- spurting
- It suggests liquid bursting out in pulses, often from a leak or wound.
- jetting
- It is more technical and stresses a powerful, steady stream.
- spouting
- It describes liquid pouring out in a bigger flow, as from a whale or a pipe.
Opposites
Word family
- squirt verb
- to send out a thin stream of liquid
- squirt noun
- a short jet of liquid
- squirter noun
- a device or person that squirts
- squirty adjective
- informal word for liquid that squirts easily
Commonly confused: squirting or spurting?
squirting vs spurting
Spurting suggests liquid forced out in bursts, such as from a pipe, but squirting often means a controlled jet from a small container.
Practice
The toy was ___ a thin jet of water across the garden.
Choose one answer.
Squirting means sending out a narrow, quick stream; dripping is slow drops, while soaking and flooding mean too much water.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “squirting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.