Spit is saliva that comes out of your mouth, or the act of forcing it out. When you spit, you push saliva through your lips, usually to get rid of something unpleasant like toothpaste foam or a watermelon seed. Some people spit on the ground, which is generally considered rude and unsanitary.

The word also describes the action itself: a baseball player might spit sunflower seed shells into the dugout, or you might spit out water after rinsing at the dentist. When something tastes terrible, you might immediately spit it out.

As a noun, spit can also mean a thin rod used for roasting meat over a fire. Picture a metal or wooden stick pushed through a whole chicken or chunks of meat, rotating slowly over flames. This cooking method goes back thousands of years. A spit can also be a narrow strip of land that extends into the ocean.

The phrase spitting image means an exact likeness: if you're the spitting image of your grandmother, you look remarkably like her.