squirt

squirt — verb

1. to make a liquid come out of a tiny hole quickly in a thin jet

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB1
Definition

to make a liquid come out of a tiny hole quickly in a thin jet

Example

Henry squirted dish soap into the sink and turned on the hot water.

transitive: squirt + liquid + into + container

Daichi squeezed the orange too hard, and juice squirted all over the counter.

intransitive: liquid squirts out unintentionally

Common collocations
  • squirt out
  • squirt into
  • squirt onto
  • squirt from
Synonyms
  • spurt

    suggests a more sudden, forceful burst of liquid, often under pressure

  • spray

    produces many fine droplets over a wider area rather than a single stream

  • splash

    implies liquid hitting a surface messily, not forced through an opening

Grammar Patterns

squirt + liquid + into/onto + container

squirt + out

Usage Note

Frequently used with an adverb or prepositional phrase showing the direction of the liquid (out, into, onto, all over).

Common Mistakes

She squirted water to the flower.
She squirted water at the flower.
The preposition 'at' shows the target direction, not 'to'.

2. to aim a stream of liquid at someone or something, getting them wet

2.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

to aim a stream of liquid at someone or something, getting them wet

Example

Baraka squirted his cousin with water from a toy dolphin at the pool.

transitive: squirt + person + with + liquid

The cook squirted the hot frying pan with oil before adding the eggs.

Common collocations
  • squirt with water
  • squirt at
  • squirt with
  • squirt in the face
Synonyms
  • spray

    less forceful and covers a wider area than a squirt

  • splash

    implies accidental contact rather than an aimed stream

Grammar Patterns

squirt + somebody/something + with + liquid

squirt + liquid + at + target

Usage Note

The target is always a person, animal, or object that gets hit by the stream. The instrument (bottle, hose, lemon) is often mentioned with the preposition 'with'.

Common Mistakes

I squirted him water.
I squirted him with water.
The preposition 'with' is needed before the liquid.

squirt — noun

Word family

  • squirter
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe liquid moving under force, but they differ in the kind of stream and the container involved. Squirt suggests a thin, narrow stream forced through a small opening such as a bottle nozzle or a lemon slice. Spurt is more sudden and intense — a spurt of blood from a cut, for example — and implies higher pressure. Spray breaks the liquid into many fine droplets that cover a broad area, like water from a garden hose nozzle. Gush describes a large volume flowing out fast and freely, often from a wide opening such as a broken dam or a deep wound. A lemon can squirt but does not gush; a fire hose can gush but does not squirt.

squirt ↗spurtspray ↗gush

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a squirt of
  • squirt in the face
  • squirt all over

Prepositions

Etymology

DutchLow GermanEnglish

The word 'squirt' probably comes from an old Dutch or Low German word that imitates the sound of liquid shooting out of a narrow opening. It has been in English since the 1400s, originally used for a young person's rude behaviour, and later for the action of forcing out liquid.