/spɹeɪ/
OriginFrom 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”).
- countable, uncountableA fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid.
“The sailor could feel the spray from the waves.”
“A strong sirocco was blowing the spray from the waves as far as the little café, whose glass doors were shut. The café reeked of brewing sage and human beings whose breath steamed the windows because ”
- countable, figuratively, uncountableSomething resembling a spray of liquid.
“Nurse Cramer had a cute nose and a radiant, blooming complexion dotted with fetching sprays of adorable freckles that Yossarian detested.”
- countableA pressurized container; an atomizer.
- countableAny of numerous commercial products, including paints, cosmetics, and insecticides, that are dispensed from containers in this manner.
- countableA 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.
- countableA side channel or branch of the runner of a flask, made to distribute the metal to all parts of the mold.
- countableA group of castings made in the same mold and connected by sprues formed in the runner and its branches.
- countableThe 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.
“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 outsi”
- Australia, countable, uncountableA loud scolding or reprimand, usually delivered by a sports coach or similar figure.
“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.”
“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 'ca”
“He could give a bloody good spray, Bricey,' Cook says. 'He'd be frothing at the mouth after he'd finished.”
- countableA small branch of flowers or berries.
“The bridesmaid carried a spray of lily-of-the-valley.”
“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.”
“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.”
- countableA collective body of small branches.
“The tree has a beautiful spray.”
“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 caus” — 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
“And from the Trees did lop the needless Spray;”
- uncountableBranches and twigs collectively; foliage.
“Gret fur he made þer aniȝt of wode & of sprai.” — There, at night, he made a great box out of wood and spray.
“Troubled, 'wilder'd, and forlorn, / Dark, benighted, travel-worn, / Over many a tangled spray, / All heart-broke I heard her say”
“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, an”
- countable, obsoleteAn orchard.
- countableAn ornament or design that resembles a branch.
- transitiveTo project a liquid in a dispersive manner toward something.
“The firemen sprayed the house.”
“Using a water cannon, the national guard sprayed the protesters.”
- ergativeTo project in a dispersive manner.
“Spray some ointment on that scratch.”
“The water sprayed out of the hose.”
- figuratively, transitiveTo project many small items dispersively.
“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”
“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 stu”
- intransitiveTo urinate in order to mark territory.
- transitiveTo 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”
“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 outsi”
- transitiveTo pass (a ball), usually laterally across the field and often a long distance.
“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.”
“Yunus sprayed it to the wing where Ali was in some space.”
- transitiveTo kick (a ball) poorly and in an unintended direction.
“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 goa”
“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.”
- NigeriaTo shower guests dancing at a function with money.
““If a celebrator is dancing and you spray him/her, you may go to jail from the party venue because the law enforcement agents will be there, waiting to arrest you.”
“Politicians have been known to spray crowds with cash. There is a cottage industry of vendors offering fresh banknotes to partygoers looking to spray their hosts.”
Formssprays(plural) · sprays(present, singular, third-person) · spraying(participle, present) · sprayed(participle, past) · sprayed(past)