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spray painting

spray painting

3 3.0
The act of putting paint on a surface using a spray can or gun
  • noun
  • /spreɪ ˈpeɪntɪŋ/
translation icon : pintura en spray
  • After hours of practice, she mastered the technique of spray painting on canvas.
  • spray painting cars
  • spray painting walls
  • spray painting graffiti

Examples

  • And Rick was caught spray painting graffiti on the building.

  • Spray painting is best carried out in well-ventilated areas and is also best applied outdoors.

    Blog text (15)
  • Whatever it is they were spray-painting was big.

  • Both victims approached the suspect in an effort to get her to stop spray painting.

    Blog text (8)
  • "Spray painting is already an industrial process, so it would be very easy to incorporate this into industry," Singh said.

    Blog text (11)
  • Amy's idea of vandalism was limited to spray painting profanity on walls and subway trains.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Diane and Wendy saw Roy spray painting and rushed over, clutching crumpled soda cans.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The vandalism charges stemmed from his allegedly spray painting two cars with "an indelible substance," even though the paint was found to be easily removable with paint thinner.

    Academic text (2003)
  • He enjoys spray painting colorful murals on blank walls in the community.

  • The artist showcased her talent for spray painting by creating stunning street art.

Synonyms

airbrushing
vsspray painting
  • Specialized
1 4.4

Using a small tool that sprays paint to make smooth colors and fine details

covers more general surface coating tasks rather than fine decoration

How Thorough

spray painting
3 3.0
misting
  • Specialized
3 3.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

spray + painting

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'spray' (a device or action that disperses liquid) with 'painting' (the activity of applying paint): it denotes painting done by means of a spray. This method-of-action composition is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English noun-noun/gerund patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Spray painting comes from the image of paint being pushed out as a fine mist from a spray can or machine while painting. So it means 'to paint by spraying', where tiny drops make a cloud that quickly covers a surface.