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- DictionarySpit·ting im·age/spidiNG ˈimij/
noun
- 1. the exact double of (another person or thing): informal "she's the spitting image of her mother"
The origin of 'spitting image' is uncertain, though it most likely evolved from 'spit,' meaning 'perfect likeness,' possibly due to the idea of a child resembling their parent so closely they were 'spit out' of their mouth.
The meaning of SPITTING IMAGE is someone or something that looks very much like someone or something else —usually singular. How to use spitting image in a sentence.
Aug 23, 2021 · As Merriam-Webster reports, the leading theory is that the phrase started out as spit and image—spit having been used to mean “exact likeness” since at least the early 19th century.
The numerous forms of the term ‘spitting image’ – spit and image, spitten image, the dead spit of etc., appear not to derive from ‘split’ but from ‘spit’. Some commentators have suggested that ‘spit’ may be a corruption of ‘spirit’, but that appears to be fanciful and isn’t backed up by any early examples of ‘spirit ...
A precise resemblance, especially in closely related persons. For example, Dirk is the spitting image of his grandfather . This idiom alludes to the earlier use of the noun spit for “likeness,” in turn probably derived from an old proverb, “as like as one as if he had been spit out of his mouth” (c. 1400). The current idiom dates from ...
An exact resemblance, usually said of parent and child or other close relatives. This term comes from the earlier spit and image, which, since spit meant “likeness,” was redundant.
If you say that one person is the spitting image of another, you mean that they look very similar. [informal] Nina looks the spitting image of her mother. Synonyms: replica, copy, reproduction, counterpart More Synonyms of spitting image. See full dictionary entry for spit.
