spray

English Online Dictionary. What means spray‎? What does spray mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spɹeɪ/
• Rhymes: -eɪ

Etymology 1

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”).

Noun

spray (countable and uncountable, plural sprays)

1. A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid.
2. (figuratively) Something resembling a spray of liquid.
3. (countable) A pressurized container; an atomizer.

   Synonym: spray can

4. (countable) Any of numerous commercial products, including paints, cosmetics, and insecticides, that are dispensed from containers in this manner.

   Synonym: spray can

5. (medicine, countable) A jet of fine medicated vapour, used either as an application to a diseased part or to charge the air of a room with a disinfectant or a deodorizer.
6. (metalworking, countable) A side channel or branch of the runner of a flask, made to distribute the metal to all parts of the mold.
7. (metalworking, countable) A group of castings made in the same mold and connected by sprues formed in the runner and its branches.
8. (computing, countable) The allocation and filling of blocks of memory with the same byte sequence, hoping to establish that sequence in a certain predetermined location as part of an exploit.
9. (Australia) A loud scolding or reprimand, usually delivered by a sports coach or similar figure.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Esperanto: spraji
• → Turkish: sprey

Translations

Verb

spray (third-person singular simple present sprays, present participle spraying, simple past and past participle sprayed)

1. (transitive) To project a liquid in a dispersive manner toward something.

2. (ergative) To project in a dispersive manner.

3. (transitive, figurative) To project many small items dispersively.
4. (intransitive, zoology) To urinate in order to mark territory.
5. (transitive, computing, computer security) To allocate blocks of memory from (a heap, etc.), and fill them with the same byte sequence, hoping to establish that sequence in a certain predetermined location as part of an exploit.

   to spray the heap of a target process
6. (transitive, soccer) To pass (a ball), usually laterally across the field and often a long distance.
7. (transitive, Australian rules football) To kick (a ball) poorly and in an unintended direction.
8. (climbing, slang, derogatory) To give unwanted advice.
9. (Nigeria) To shower guests dancing at a function with money

Derived terms

• say it, don't spray it
• sprayable
• spray and pray
• spray-on

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English spray, from Old English *spræġ, sprei (found in place names such as that of Spreyton, England), of unknown origin.

Noun

spray (countable and uncountable, plural sprays)

1. (countable) A small branch of flowers or berries.
2. (countable) A collective body of small branches.
3. (uncountable) Branches and twigs collectively; foliage.
4. (countable, obsolete) An orchard.
5. (countable) An ornament or design that resembles a branch.

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Prays, Sarpy, prays, raspy, spary

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English spray.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spreː/
• Hyphenation: spray

Noun

spray m (plural sprays)

1. spray (liquid commercial product sold in a spray container)

Derived terms

• haarspray
• verfspray

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from English spray.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsprei̯/, [ˈs̠pre̞i̯]
• Rhymes: -ei
• Hyphenation^(key): spray

Noun

spray

1. spray (device for spraying)

Usage notes

• Many of the inflected forms, especially the plurals, are somewhat awkward. Therefore, it may be advisable to use appropriate synonyms for these cases, such as spraypullo, spraytölkki, suihke, suihkepullo.

Declension

Synonyms

• suihke
• suihkepullo

Derived terms

Further reading

• “spray”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

French

Noun

spray m (plural sprays)

1. spray can

Hungarian

Alternative forms

• spré, szpré

Etymology

From English spray.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈspreː], [ˈspreːj], [ˈʃpreː], [ˈʃpreːj]
• Hyphenation: spray
• Rhymes: -reː, -eːj

Noun

spray (plural spray-k)

1. spray (commercial product dispensed from a container)

Declension

Derived terms

Middle English

Alternative forms

• spraye

Etymology

From Old English *spræġ, sprei (found in place names such as that of Spreyton, England), of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sprɛi̯/

Noun

spray (plural sprayes)

1. branch, shoot, or twig of a tree

Descendants

• English: spray
• Yola: spraay

References

• “sprai, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From English spray.

Noun

spray m (definite singular sprayen, indefinite plural sprayer, definite plural sprayene)

1. spray

Derived terms

• hårspray
• nesespray
• sprayboks
• spraymaling

Related terms

• spraye

Etymology 2

Verb

spray

1. imperative of spraye

References

• “spray” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English spray.

Noun

spray m (definite singular sprayen, indefinite plural sprayar, definite plural sprayane)

1. spray

Derived terms

• hårspray
• sprayboks

Related terms

• spraye

References

• “spray” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Alternative forms

• sprej

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English spray.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsprɛj/
• Rhymes: -ɛj
• Syllabification: spray

Noun

spray m inan

1. spray (fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid)
2. aerosol spray (liquid commercial product sold in a spray container)

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• spray in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• (Brazilian pronunciation spelling) esprei

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English spray.

Pronunciation

Noun

spray m (plural sprays)

1. spray; atomizer (pressurised container with a nozzle that lets out a spray)

   Synonyms: atomizador, aerossol, pulverizador

2. spray (fine, gentle, disperse mist of liquid)

   Synonym: borrifo

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English spray.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sprej/
• IPA^(key): /ʃprej/ – folk common pronunciation.
• Rhymes: -ej
• Hyphenation: spray

Noun

spray n (plural sprayuri)

1. spray

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English spray.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈpɾai/ [esˈpɾai̯]
  • Rhymes: -ai
• IPA^(key): /esˈpɾei/ [esˈpɾei̯]
  • Rhymes: -ei

Noun

spray m (plural sprays or spray)

1. Alternative form of espray

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “spray”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Alternative forms

• sprej

Etymology

Borrowed from English spray. Attested since 1920.

Noun

spray c

1. spray (especially when sprayed from a spray can or spray bottle or the like)

Declension

Derived terms

• sprayburk (“spray can”)
• sprayflaska (“spray bottle”)

Related terms

• spraya

See also

• sprut
• spruta

References

• spray in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• spray in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• spray in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)