spray

See also: Spray

English

A spray can spraying (#2)

A spray can (#3)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /spɹeɪ/
Audio (US) (file)
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 *sper- (“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)

A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid.
The sailor could feel the spray from the waves.
(figuratively) Something resembling a spray of liquid.
- 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, OCLC 1023879857, page 171:
  Nurse Cramer had a cute nose and a radiant, blooming complexion dotted with fetching sprays of adorable freckles that Yossarian detested.
(countable) A pressurized container; an atomizer.
Synonym: spray can
(countable) Any of numerous commercial products, including paints, cosmetics, and insecticides, that are dispensed from containers in this manner.
Synonym: spray can
(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.
(metalworking, countable) A side channel or branch of the runner of a flask, made to distribute the metal to all parts of the mold.
(metalworking, countable) A group of castings made in the same mold and connected by sprues formed in the runner and its branches[1].
(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.
- 2015, Herbert Bos, Fabian Monrose, Gregory Blanc, Research in Attacks, Intrusions, and Defenses: 18th International Symposium
  This approach would be altered for an optimal omelette based exploit. One would spray the heap with the omelette code solely, then load a single copy of the additional shellcode eggs into memory outside the target region for the spray.
(Australia) A loud scolding or reprimand, usually delivered by a sports coach or similar figure.
- 2008, Robert Harvey, Harves: Strength Through Loyalty, Macmillan Publishers Aus., →ISBN, page 119:
  On match days he could give a good spray, and in many ways he was an old-fashioned coach, having learned a lot of his approach from Ron Barassi.
- 2008, Kevin Hillier, Rocket Science: The Biography of Rodney Eade, Macmillan Publishers Aus., →ISBN, page 151:
  Expectations of what they will put up with have changed and a big spray probably doesn't have the effect it used to have. It certainly worked for me, I would get really aggressive and get fired up 'cause it's a motivational device they used.
- 2018, Paul Amy, Fabulous Fred: The Strife and Times of Fred Cook, Melbourne Books, →ISBN:
  He could give a bloody good spray, Bricey,' Cook says. 'He'd be frothing at the mouth after he'd finished.

Derived terms

body spray
bug spray
capiscum spray
cooking spray
feather spray
fly spray
hair spray
nasal spray
pepper spray
pool spray
salt spray
spray bottle
spray can
spray condenser
spray drain
spray gun
spray paint
vanishing spray

Descendants

→ Esperanto: spraji
→ Turkish: sprey

Translations

fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid

Bulgarian: пръски (bg) f pl (prǎski)
Esperanto: sprajo
Finnish: sumu (fi), usva (fi)
French: embrun (fr) m, gouttelette (fr) f
German: Spray (de) m, Sprühnebel m
Greek: ψιχάλες (el) f pl (psicháles), ψεκασμός (el) m (psekasmós)
Hungarian: permet (hu)
Navajo: tózhool
Polish: mgiełka (pl) f
Portuguese: borrifo (pt) m, spray (pt) m, esprei (pt), esprei (pt)
Russian: водяна́я пыль f (vodjanája pylʹ), бры́зги (ru) f pl (brýzgi)
Spanish: spray (es) m, aerosol (es) m, difusión (es) f
Turkish: serpinti (tr), çisenti (tr), aerosol (tr)

small branch of flowers or berries

Bulgarian: клонче (bg) n (klonče), вейка (bg) f (vejka)
Finnish: varpu (fi), terttu (fi)
French: rameau (fr) m, branchette (fr) f, gerbe (fr) f
German: Reisig (de) n, Blütenstand (de) m
Greek: κλωνάρι (el) n (klonári)
Japanese: 小枝 (こえだ, koeda)
Polish: kiść (pl) f
Portuguese: raminho m
Russian: побе́г (ru) m (pobég) (дерева или кустарника), бутонье́рка (ru) f (butonʹjérka) (decoration)
Spanish: ramito m
Turkish: filiz (tr)
Walloon: coxhea (wa) m

pressurized container

Bulgarian: пръскачка f (prǎskačka), пулверизатор (bg) m (pulverizator)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 噴霧器／喷雾器 (zh) (pēnwùqì)
Esperanto: sprajilo
Finnish: suihkepullo, suihke (fi)
French: pulvérisateur (fr) m, vaporisateur (fr) m
Japanese: スプレー (supurē)
Korean: 스프레이 (seupeurei)
Persian: اسپری‎ (fa) (esprey)
Polish: spray (pl) m, spraj m, sprej (pl) m
Portuguese: spray (pt) m, esprei (pt)
Russian: пульвериза́тор (ru) m (pulʹverizátor), распыли́тель (ru) m (raspylítelʹ), опры́скиватель (ru) m (oprýskivatelʹ), спрей (ru) m (sprɛj), разбры́згиватель (ru) m (razbrýzgivatelʹ), бры́згалка (ru) f (brýzgalka) (colloquial), пры́скалка (ru) f (prýskalka) (colloquial), пши́калка (ru) f (pšíkalka) (colloquial)
Spanish: spray (es) m, espray (es) m, aerosol (es) m
Swedish: sprayburk c, sprejburk (sv) c
Turkish: sprey (tr)

commercial product

Bulgarian: спрей m (sprej)
Czech: sprej m
Finnish: suihke (fi), spray (fi)
French: pulvérisation (fr) f
German: Spray (de) m
Hungarian: spray (hu), spré, szpré
Japanese: スプレー (supurē)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: spray m
Nynorsk: spray m
Polish: spray (pl) m
Portuguese: spray (pt) m, esprei (pt)
Russian: спрей (ru) m (sprɛj)
Spanish: spray (es) m, espray (es) m, bote de spray m
Turkish: sprey (tr)

Verb

Sprinklers spraying water to irrigate vine plants in a vineyard

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

(transitive) To project a liquid in a dispersive manner toward something.
The firemen sprayed the house.
Using a water cannon, the national guard sprayed the protesters.
(ergative) To project in a dispersive manner.
Spray some ointment on that scratch.
The water sprayed out of the hose.
(transitive, figurative) To project many small items dispersively.
- 2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian‎:
  The sprawl of sheds like Magna Parks 1 to 3 are a particularly vivid measure, because they host the final moment of relative stasis for millions of products that are then sprayed out to homes in every direction.
- 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
  Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.
(intransitive, zoology) To urinate in order to mark territory.
(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
- 2015, Herbert Bos, Fabian Monrose, Gregory Blanc, Research in Attacks, Intrusions, and Defenses: 18th International Symposium
  This approach would be altered for an optimal omelette based exploit. One would spray the heap with the omelette code solely, then load a single copy of the additional shellcode eggs into memory outside the target region for the spray.
(transitive, soccer) To pass (a ball), usually laterally across the field and often a long distance.
- 2012 February 1, Ash Rose, The QPR Miscellany, The History Press, →ISBN:
  Kevin McLeod sprayed the ball across from the left flank where a raging Ainsworth met it on the volley from 25 yards out, crashing the ball into the roof of the net.
- 2013 August 11, Jamal Orme, The Victory Boys, Kube Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 13:
  Yunus sprayed it to the wing where Ali was in some space.
(transitive, Australian rules football) To kick (a ball) poorly and in an unintended direction.
- 2011, Ashley Browne, Grand Finals: The Stories Behind the Premier Teams of the Victorian Football League. 1897-1938, Slattery Media Group, →ISBN, page 143:
  Despite a goal to Vin Gardiner for Carlton, courtesy of an infringement, the Blues squandered many opportunities in attack. They sprayed the ball with their field kicking, and in their path toward goal.
- 2016 June 28, Nick Richardson, The Game of Their Lives, Macmillan Publishers Aus., →ISBN:
  But once again their forwards, including Sloss, sprayed the ball in front of goal and squandered their momentum by kicking a solitary goal and six careless behinds.

Derived terms

say it, don't spray it
sprayable
spray and pray

Translations

to project a liquid in a disperse manner

Assamese: সিঁচা (xĩsa), ছটিওৱা (sotiüa)
Bulgarian: пръскам (bg) (prǎskam)
Czech: rozprášit pf
Esperanto: spruĉi, spraji
Danish: spraye, forstøve, oversprøjte
Finnish: suihkuttaa (fi), sumuttaa (fi)
French: pulvériser (fr), vaporiser (fr), asperger (fr)
German: versprühen (de), zerstäuben (de)
Greek: ψεκάζω (el) (psekázo), ραντίζω (el) (rantízo)
Hungarian: permetez (hu)
Italian: polverizzare (it)
Malay:
Jawi: سمبور‎, سمڤروت‎
Rumi: sembur, semperut
Maori: uwhiuwhi
Polish: rozpylać impf, rozpylić (pl) pf, opryskiwać (pl) impf, opryskać pf
Portuguese: borrifar (pt)
Quechua: ch'allay
Russian: распыля́ть (ru) impf (raspyljátʹ), распыли́ть (ru) pf (raspylítʹ), разбры́згивать (ru) impf (razbrýzgivatʹ), разбры́згать (ru) pf (razbrýzgatʹ)
Spanish: rociar (es), pulverizar (es), atomizar (es), asperjar (es)
Turkish: püskürtmek (tr)
Vietnamese: phun (vi), xịt (vi)

to project many small items dispersively

Bulgarian: оросявам (bg) (orosjavam)
Czech: rozhodit pf
Danish: forstøve
Finnish: levittää (fi)
French: pulvériser (fr)

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)

(countable) A small branch of flowers or berries.
The bridesmaid carried a spray of lily-of-the-valley.
- a. 1674, John Milton, “To the Nightingale”, in Paradise Regain’d, Birmingham: J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, published 1752, page 506:
  O Nightingale, that on yon bloomy ſpray / Warbleſt at eve, when all the woods are ſtill, / Thou with freſh hope the lover’s heart doſt fill, / While the jolly hours lead on propitious May.
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415, page 385:
  The painted Birds, Companions of the Spring, / Hopping from Spray to Spray, were heard to ſing ; / Both Eyes and Ears receiv’d a like Delight, / Enchanting Muſick, and a charming Sight.
(countable) A collective body of small branches.
The tree has a beautiful spray.
- a. 1426, Thomas Hoccleve, “The recordyng of aungeles song of the Natiuite of oure lady”, in Frederick James Furnivall, editor, Hoccleve's Works, volume III (in Middle English), London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., published 1897, lines 8–14, page xlvi:
  A blisful flour, owt of this spray schal springe ; / The fruyt þer-of schal be ful precïous ; / A causë haue [we] for to ioye & synge, / In honure of þat maidë gracïous, / That gret comfort schal cause[n] vnto vs ; / ffor now schal faste oure company encrees, / And god with man schal makë smallë pees.
  A blissful flower out will spring out of this spray; / Its fruit shall be very precious; / We have cause for joy and song, / In honour of that gracious maid, / Who will make us very comfortable; / for now our company will grow quickly, / And man will make peace with God.
- c. 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene. Book VII, Canto VII:
  And from the Trees did lop the needless Spray;
(uncountable) Branches and twigs collectively; foliage.
- a. 1300, Robert of Gloucester, “Henricus”, in William Aldis Wright, editor, The Metrical Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester (in Middle English), London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, published 1887, part I, page 755:
  Gret fur he made þer aniȝt of wode & of sprai.
  There, at night, he made a great box out of wood and spray.
- 1789, William Blake, “A Dream”, in Songs of Innocence:
  Troubled, 'wilder'd, and forlorn, / Dark, benighted, travel-worn, / Over many a tangled spray, / All heart-broke I heard her say
- a. 1843, John Claudius Loudon, “Catalogue of Culinary Vegetables”, in The Suburban Horticulturalist, London: Bradbury and Evans, published 1845, page 631:
  The pea, being a tendrilled climber, whenever it is to be cultivated to the greatest advantage, ought to be supported by pea sticks, which are branches of trees or shrubs well furnished with spray, and of lengths suited to the height to which the plants grow.
(countable, obsolete) An orchard.
(countable) An ornament or design that resembles a branch.

Translations

small branch of flowers or berries

Bulgarian: клонче (bg) n (klonče)
Finnish: lehvä (fi)

collective body of small branches

Finnish: lehvistö

branches and twigs collectively — see foliage

orchard — see orchard

ornament or design that resembles a branch

Finnish: lehvä (fi)

References

1874, Edward H. Knight, American Mechanical Dictionary

Anagrams

Prays, Sarpy, prays, raspy, spary

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English spray.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /spreː/
Audio (file)
Hyphenation: spray

Noun

spray m (plural sprays)

spray (liquid commercial product sold in a spray container)

Derived terms

haarspray
verfspray

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from English spray.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsprei̯/, [ˈs̠pre̞i̯]
Syllabification^(key): spray

Noun

spray

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

Inflection of spray (Kotus type 21/rosé, no gradation)
nominative		spray	sprayt
genitive		sprayn	sprayiden sprayitten
partitive		sprayta	sprayita
illative		sprayhin sprayhyn	sprayihin
		singular	plural
nominative		spray	sprayt
accusative	nom.	spray	sprayt
accusative	gen.	sprayn	sprayt
genitive		sprayn	sprayiden sprayitten
partitive		sprayta	sprayita
inessive		sprayssa	sprayissa
elative		spraysta	sprayista
illative		sprayhin sprayhyn	sprayihin
adessive		spraylla	sprayilla
ablative		spraylta	sprayilta
allative		spraylle	sprayille
essive		sprayna	sprayina
translative		sprayksi	sprayiksi
instructive		—	sprayin
abessive		spraytta	sprayitta
comitative		—	sprayineen

Possessive forms of spray (type rosé)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	sprayni	spraymme
2nd person	spraysi	spraynne
3rd person	spraynsa

Inflection of spray (Kotus type 21/rosé, no gradation)
nominative		spray	sprayt
genitive		sprayn	sprayiden sprayitten
partitive		spraytä	sprayitä
illative		sprayhin sprayhyn	sprayihin
		singular	plural
nominative		spray	sprayt
accusative	nom.	spray	sprayt
accusative	gen.	sprayn	sprayt
genitive		sprayn	sprayiden sprayitten
partitive		spraytä	sprayitä
inessive		sprayssä	sprayissä
elative		spraystä	sprayistä
illative		sprayhin sprayhyn	sprayihin
adessive		sprayllä	sprayillä
ablative		sprayltä	sprayiltä
allative		spraylle	sprayille
essive		spraynä	sprayinä
translative		sprayksi	sprayiksi
instructive		—	sprayin
abessive		sprayttä	sprayittä
comitative		—	sprayineen

Possessive forms of spray (type rosé)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	sprayni	spraymme
2nd person	spraysi	spraynne
3rd person	spraynsä

Synonyms

suihke
suihkepullo

Derived terms

spreijata

Compounds

spraydeodorantti
spraymaalata
spraymaali
spraypullo
spraytölkki

French

Noun

spray m (plural sprays)

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)

spray (commercial product dispensed from a container)

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	spray	spray-k
accusative	spray-t	spray-ket
dative	spray-nek	spray-knek
instrumental	spray-vel	spray-kkel
causal-final	spray-ért	spray-kért
translative	spray-vé	spray-kké
terminative	spray-ig	spray-kig
essive-formal	spray-ként	spray-kként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	spray-ben	spray-kben
superessive	spray-n	spray-ken
adessive	spray-nél	spray-knél
illative	spray-be	spray-kbe
sublative	spray-re	spray-kre
allative	spray-hez	spray-khez
elative	spray-ből	spray-kből
delative	spray-ről	spray-kről
ablative	spray-től	spray-ktől
non-attributive possessive - singular	spray-é	spray-ké
non-attributive possessive - plural	spray-éi	spray-kéi

Possessive forms of spray
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	spray-m	spray-im
2nd person sing.	spray-d	spray-id
3rd person sing.	spray-je	spray-i
1st person plural	spray-nk	spray-ink
2nd person plural	spray-tek	spray-itek
3rd person plural	spray-jük	spray-ik

Derived terms

lábspray
orrspray
szilikonspray

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)

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)

spray

Derived terms

hårspray
nesespray
sprayboks
spraymaling

Related terms

spraye

Verb

spray

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)

spray

Derived terms

hårspray
sprayboks

Related terms

spraye

References

“spray” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English spray, from Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to sow, scatter”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sprɛj/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -ɛj
Syllabification: spray

Noun

spray m inan

aerosol spray (liquid commercial product sold in a spray container)

Declension

Declension of spray

	singular	plural
nominative	spray	spraye
genitive	sprayu	sprayów
dative	sprayowi	sprayom
accusative	spray	spraye
instrumental	sprayem	sprayami
locative	sprayu	sprayach
vocative	sprayu	spraye

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English spray, from Middle Dutch sprāien, sprayen, spraeyen (“to spray, sprinkle, spread”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sprēwijaną (“to spray, sprinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to sow, scatter”).

Noun

spray m (plural sprays)

spray; atomizer (pressurised container with a nozzle that lets out a spray)
Synonyms: borrifador, atomizador, (Brazil) esprei, aerossol, pulverizador
spray (fine, gentle, disperse mist of liquid)
Synonyms: borrifo, (Brazil) esprei

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English spray.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

spray n (plural sprayuri)

spray

Declension

Declension of spray

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) spray	sprayul	(niște) sprayuri	sprayurile
genitive/dative	(unui) spray	sprayului	(unor) sprayuri	sprayurilor
vocative	sprayule		sprayurilor

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)

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.

Swedish

Alternative forms

sprej

Etymology

Borrowed from English spray. Attested since 1920.

Noun

spray c

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

Declension

Declension of spray
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	spray	sprayen	sprayer	sprayerna
Genitive	sprays	sprayens	sprayers	sprayernas

Derived terms

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

Related terms

spraya

References

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

[1] 1874, Edward H. Knight, American Mechanical Dictionary

spray

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

Translations

References

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Finnish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Usage notes

Declension

Synonyms

Derived terms

Compounds

French

Noun

Hungarian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Descendants

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Related terms

Verb

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Noun

Derived terms

Related terms

References

Polish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Further reading

Portuguese

Etymology

Noun

Romanian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Usage notes

Further reading

Swedish