Word of the Day for Friday, January 6, 2012
sprat \sprat\, noun:
1. A small or inconsequential person or thing.
2. A species of herring, Clupea sprattus, of the eastern North Atlantic.
How'd you get yourself into this, sprat, Bustard wanted to know.
-- Gene Wolfe, Epiphany of the Long Sun
Edgerton was cursing, but Mr. Bullock just shook his head. "No, sir, don't say such things in front of the little sprat…"
-- Catherine Coulter, "Deception"
Sprat is a variation of the Old English word sprot which meant "a sprout or twig." Its most common usage is in the nursery rhyme "Jack Sprat."
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