Origin of the word Spew
SPEW is one of those words in English that comes from the family that means ‘ejecting or discharging liquid’. These words start with the letters sp-. These words include:
Spit: Expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth
Sputter: Spit up in an explosive manner
Spout: Gush forth in a sudden stream or jet/ Talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner
Each of these words can be traced back to an Indo-European base *spyēu-, *spyū-, etc, which is imitative of the sound of spitting. Hence, each of these words is related in one way or the other to discharge of something.
In terms of usage, have a look at the following:
1. Volcanoes spew molten lava.
2. Harsh and bitter women spew nothing else but venom.
3. A marriage gone bad spews destruction for the children.
4. If one eats like a glutton, one can only expect to spew one’s food out.
The dictionary definitions for SPEWED are as follows:
1. To discharge the contents of the stomach through the mouth; vomit. (verb)
2. To eject from the stomach through the mouth; vomit. (verb)
3. To cast forth, gush, or eject, as in disgust or anger. (verb)
4. Something that is spewed; vomit. (noun)
Word in Context
The above is a perfect illustration for spewed. It represents the word perfectly. The fact that radioactive material was spewed into the atmosphere means it was discharges or ejected into the atmosphere (as a scary visualization, just simply imagine the dangerous particles floating in the air and spreading at the rate of knots).
The above is an extract from The New York Times used for educational purposes:
Read further on: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/world/asia/18japan.html