Squirt

Squirt

Verb · /skwɜːt/ · to eject liquid in a thin fast stream; also a noun for such a stream or a small insignificant person

Definition

To squirt is to force liquid out through a narrow opening in a thin, fast jet. Water squirts from a tap left on under pressure. Sauce squirts from a bottle squeezed too hard. Paint squirts from a nozzle. As a noun, a squirt is the thin stream itself — a squirt of lemon juice, a squirt of disinfectant. Informally, squirt also refers to a small or young person — said with affection or mild condescension. The word is vivid, precise, and unmistakably physical in its sound and image.

Origin

Squirt first appeared in English in the fifteenth century, likely from a Low German or Dutch source — the Low German words for spurting and squirting share a similar consonant cluster. By the sixteenth century it was firmly established in English. The informal noun sense — a squirt meaning a small or impudent person — developed by the seventeenth century, playing on the idea of something small that makes an outsized noise or mess. Both senses remain in active use today.