up the spout

English

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up the spout

phrase

slang Broken; not functional or workable; kaput. I think the left speaker is up the spout.
slang In the chamber, having an ammunition round in a weapon's chamber. He went into the attack with his rifle cocked and with one up the spout.
slang Pregnant. Did you know that she's up the spout?
archaic, slang At the pawnbroker's shop (in allusion to the spout up which the pawnbroker sent the ticketed articles). to put/shove/pop something up the spout

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MLA

"up the spout." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/up%20the%20spout. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

up the spout. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/up%20the%20spout

Chicago

"up the spout." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/up%20the%20spout.

BibTeX

@misc{up_the_spout_2026,
  title = {up the spout},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/up%20the%20spout},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}