Present participle of spray; the act of dispersing liquid in fine droplets through the air. Used for applications like painting, cleaning, or pest control.
From Middle Dutch 'sprayen' meaning 'to sprinkle'. The word entered English in the 17th century, originally describing the action of scattering water or other liquids in small particles.
The aerosol spray can, invented in 1941, revolutionized how we think about spraying and led to countless applications from deodorants to spray paint. Interestingly, many animals naturally 'spray' for communication or defense, making this human technology a mimicry of biological processes.
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