Definition of "spat" []

• A past tense and a past participle of spit1. (verb)
• An oyster or similar bivalve mollusk in the larval stage, especially when it settles to the bottom and begins to develop a shell. (noun)
• The spawn of an oyster or a similar mollusk. (noun)
• To spawn. Used of oysters and similar mollusks. (verb-intransitive)
• A cloth or leather gaiter covering the shoe upper and the ankle and fastening under the shoe with a strap. Often used in the plural. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The decided _spat, spat, spat_ of the reversing blows from the caulked boots sounded like picket firing."
• "He des keep on agoin ', _spat, spat, spat_, an' when he come out front de"
• "Joeboy raised first one and then another great stone upon the edge as he was told, and Denham stepped up directly to look between them, but bobbed his head and stepped down again directly, for _spat, spat, spat_, three rifle-bullets struck the stones and fell rattling down."