spray

A spray is a jet of small drops of water or liquid vapor. It describes the medicine you use to make your nose less dry or the air freshener you use to make your bathroom less smelly.

Though spray has had several incarnations, it is helpful to remember the German root sprühen — “to sparkle” or “to drizzle.” Spray has more than one sense, and can be a verb or a noun: If a whale were to spray you with water, you would be covered in spray. The word can also describe a group of small objects or pieces sent in the air, as in the spray of broken glass caused by your foul ball hitting a window.