English · Idiom Candidate

spit feathers

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

At New Scotland Yard, John McLeish was spitting feathers, as one of his staff graphically put it.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review.

Common questions

What does “spit feathers” mean?

Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.

Is “spit feathers” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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