noun · verb · 32 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/spɹeɪ/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -eɪ
CMU ARPABET:S P R EY1
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
The sailor could feel the spray from the waves.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Something resembling a spray of liquid.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, figuratively, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A pressurized container; an atomizer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: spray can
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Any of numerous commercial products, including paints, cosmetics, and insecticides, that are dispensed from containers in this manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: spray can
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Topics: medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
A side channel or branch of the runner of a flask, made to distribute the metal to all parts of the mold.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
noun
Meaning 9
A loud scolding or reprimand, usually delivered by a sports coach or similar figure.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
10
noun
Meaning 10
A small branch of flowers or berries.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Examples
The bridesmaid carried a spray of lily-of-the-valley.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sprig
Antonyms: none provided
11
noun
Meaning 11
A collective body of small branches.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Examples
The tree has a beautiful spray.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
12
noun
Meaning 12
Branches and twigs collectively; foliage.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
13
noun
Meaning 13
An orchard.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
14
noun
Meaning 14
An ornament or design that resembles a branch.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
15
verb
Meaning 15
To project a liquid in a dispersive manner toward something.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
The firemen sprayed the house.
Using a water cannon, the national guard sprayed the protesters.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
16
verb
Meaning 16
To project in a dispersive manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: ergative
Examples
Spray some ointment on that scratch.
The water sprayed out of the hose.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
17
verb
Meaning 17
To project many small items dispersively.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
18
verb
Meaning 18
To urinate in order to mark territory.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Topics: biology, natural-sciences, zoology
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
19
verb
Meaning 19
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
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”).
From Middle English spray, from Old English *spræġ, sprei (found in place names such as that of Spreyton, England), of unknown origin. Compare English sprig (“shoot, twig”).
Across languages
Translations
158 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Armenian:
ցայտ
(cʻayt)
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Bulgarian:
пръски
(prǎski)
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Catalan:
esprai
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Esperanto:
sprajo
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Finnish:
sumu
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Finnish:
usva
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
French:
embrun
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
French:
gouttelette
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
German:
Spray
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
German:
Sprühnebel
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Greek:
ψιχάλες
(psicháles)
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Greek:
ψεκασμός
(psekasmós)
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Hungarian:
permet
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Māori:
rehu
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Navajo:
tózhool
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Polish:
mgiełka
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Portuguese:
borrifo
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Portuguese:
spray
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
Portuguese:
esprei
— fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid
