- spout (v.)
- early 14c., related to Middle Dutch spoiten "to spout," North Frisian spütji "spout, squirt," Swedish sputa "to spout," and probably Middle Dutch spuwen "to spit" (see spew). Meaning "to talk, declaim" is recorded from 1610s.
- spout (n.)
- late 14c., from spout (v.). It was the slang term for the lift in a pawnbroker's shop, up which articles were taken for storage, hence figurative phrase up the spout "lost, hopeless, gone beyond recall" (1812).