Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SPUT'TER, v.i. [D. spuiten, to spout; Sw. spotta; L. sputo, to spit. It belongs to the root of spout and spit; of the latter it seems to be a diminutive.]

1. To spit, or to emit saliva from the mouth in small or scattered portions, as in rapid speaking.
2. To throw out moisture in small detached parts; as, green wood sputtering in the flame. – Dryden.
3. To fly off in small particles with some crackling or noise. When sparkling lamps their sputtering lights advance. – Dryden.
4. To utter words hastily and indistinctly; literally, to spout small; to speak so rapidly as to emit saliva. They could neither of them speak their rage, and so they fell a sputtering at one another, like two roasting apples. – Congreve.