spumescent

spumescent

English

Etymology

From Latin spumescens, p.pr. of spumescere (“to grow foamy”).

Adjective

spumescent (comparative more spumescent, superlative most spumescent)

1. (rare) Resembling froth or foam; foaming.
   • 1957, John Bell Clayton, The Strangers Were There: Selected Stories, Macmillan, p. 79:

     The snowfall had changed again, the flakes larger now and less insistent; they had a buoyant and spumescent quality.

   • 1993, Hjalmar Thesen, The Way Back: A Novel, →ISBN, p. 146:

     His eyes burned black with the intensity of their gaze over the hidden ravine below; over the thin, white waterfall, spumescent, blown into mist.

   • 2008, Peter F. Hamilton, The Reality Dysfunction, →ISBN, online edition:

     Then she screamed as a jet of spumescent gore slopped across the front of the paralysed fabric.

Related terms

• spumante
• spumescence