n.

1. A faucet. See Regional Note at andiron.
2. A wooden faucet placed in the bunghole of a cask.
3. The vent plug of a cask.

[Middle English, perhaps from Old French *espigot, diminutive of Old Provençal espiga, ear of grain, from Latin spīca.]

Spigot, another word for "faucet," seems appropriate to describe the flood of spending that had been the habit of the late Kenneth Lay, former chairman and CEO of collapsed energy giant Enron:

"During the trial Lay had been expected to charm jurors, but instead came across as irritable and combative.
"Lay defended his personal spending, including a $200,000 yacht for Linda Lay's birthday party in early 2001, despite $100 million in personal debt. He told jurors it was 'difficult to turn off that lifestyle like a spigot.'"

Link: Lay's Death Closes His Enron Case

Posted July 6, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

1. A faucet.
2. The end of a pipe that fits into a bell, 2.

spigot, 2

---

IN BRIEF: A faucet.

Use the spigot nearest the garden to soak the fruit trees.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - tap, taphane

Nederlands (Dutch)
tap(kraan), kraan

Français (French)
n. - fausset, (US) robinet

Deutsch (German)
n. - Zapfen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τάπα, (ΗΠΑ) κάνουλα, συνδετική πατούρα σωλήνα

Italiano (Italian)
rubinetto

Português (Portuguese)
n. - batoque (m), torneira (f)

Русский (Russian)
затычка, пробка крана, втулка, центрирующая цапфа

Español (Spanish)
n. - espita, grifo, enchufe macho

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - svicka, sprundtapp, kran, liten plugg, tapp

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
栓, 水龙头, 饮水的地方

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 栓, 水龍頭, 飲水的地方

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (수도, 통 등의) 꼭지, (액체를 따르는) 주둥이 마개, (파이프의) 끼워넣는 부분

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 栓, 飲み口

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) صنبور ماء, حنفيه, سدادة برميل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מגופה, פקק, ברז‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.

rubbermaid spigot	Tomlinson Industries Spigot