Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A spittoon.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A spittoon.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Any ornamental vessel used as a spittoon; hence, to avoid the common term, a spittoon of any sort.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun US
spittoon
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a receptacle for spit (usually in a public place)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Why do they call themselves by the graceful name of "cuspidor" -- suggestive of castanets and Andalusian wiles?
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He spits out the coffee into a large brass cuspidor which is designed for the purpose.
All About Coffee 1909
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The house had a stereo with speakers the size of filing cabinets, a beer-filled refrigerator, and a brass cuspidor heaped with sinsemilla.
Here Comes Another Lesson Stephen O’Connor 2010
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Other sites include Word Spy, which is great and which a bunch of Wordie commenters have linked to, and My Favorite Word, which claims that Joyce's favorite word was "cuspidor." read more | digg story
Archive 2007-09-01 2007
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Ben shifted slightly and used a foot pedal to open a bronze cuspidor shaped like a turtle.
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Pergunta nº1: porque é que eu, ateu descrente, cuspidor em padrecos e pontapeador de bíblias, caio nestas tretas?
Natal Artur 2005
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Ben shifted slightly and used a foot pedal to open a bronze cuspidor shaped like a turtle.
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It was an ordinary outer office of the golden-oak variety, with a railing of spindles separating a telephone switchboard and two typewriter desks from two public settles and a brass cuspidor.
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The bed was rickety, with a thin knotty mattress; the sand-colored walls were scratched and gouged; in every corner, under everything, were fluffy dust and cigar ashes; on the tilted wash-stand was a nicked and squatty pitcher; the only chair was a grim straight object of spotty varnish; but there was an altogether splendid gilt and rose cuspidor.
Main Street 2004
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Quote from 1909 article: … the famous cuspidor curver … He broke the spitball in and out.
The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004
john commented on the word cuspidor
Supposedly Joyce's favorite word. If you Google "joyce spitoon" you'll get hundreds of references to this, but I couldn't find an actual source anywhere.
September 29, 2007
madmouth commented on the word cuspidor
Oh, Theodore, don't spit on the floor
Please use a cuspidor; that's what it's for
April 18, 2009