Definition of "spatter" [spat•ter]

• To scatter (a liquid) in drops or small splashes. (verb-transitive)
• To spot, splash, or soil. (verb-transitive)
• To sully the reputation of; defame. (verb-transitive)
• To come forth in drops or small splashes: Hot grease spattered in all directions. (verb-intransitive)
• To fall in or as if in a shower, as rain or bullets. (verb-intransitive)

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.

• "Auditor Karen Flynn, Prosecutor Russ Hauge, and Commissioner Chris Endresen would be well advised to keep their distance to avoid spatter from the lawsuit and Canvassing Board hearing."
• "A job well done, he thought, and watched the rain spatter the spongy rubber cobbles of the midway."
• "You know, you just reminded me of a case I had where a woman allegedly committed suicide, but there were blood spatter, there was blood spatter, which is from the impact of the gun, under her pillow."