Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a tiff, a dispute, a quarrel.

1804		Repertory (Boston) 27 April [London news] n.p.: The late spat between Mr. Pitt and Mr. W. Pulteney.
1828		Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. n.p.: Spat, a petty combat; a little quarrel or dissension. (A vulgar use of the word in New England.).
1833		A. Greene Life and Adventures of Dr Dodimus Duckworth I 189: That’s nothing but a love-spat.
a.1848		N.-Y. Trib. n.p.: We do not believe that Messrs. Buchanan and Walker have resigned their seats in the cabinet. There has been a spat of course; but there may be many more before either of the Secretaries will resign $6000 a year [B].
1850		J.R. Lowell ‘The Unhappy Lot of Mr. Knott’ in Writings (1896) 105: The bulldogs settled private spats.
1867		‘Johnny Cross’ ‘The Collar Butcher’ in Orig. Pontoon Songster 24: ’Twas on the Jersey Flat, we had our little spat.
1887		Amer. Correspondent N&Q 12 Mar. 206: A spat between the feminine heads of two families [F&H].
1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 51: A’ course they have their little spats.
1925		Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves 35: ‘I say, you haven’t had a row with Corky, have you?’ ‘A row?’ ‘A spat, don’t you know – a little misunderstanding.’.
1939		W. Winchell On Broadway 10 Aug. [synd. col.] Do they get on? They have more spats than Lucas Beebe.
1949		J.T. Farrell ‘A Misunderstanding’ in Amer. Dream Girl (1950) 5: We had our little spats.
1952		G. Fowler Schnozzola 36: About this spat the Schnozzola recalls, ‘For the life of me I couldn’t understand it’.
1961		Brides in Love I:25 July 5: Donna, every married couple have spats!
1978		L.K. Truscott IV Dress Gray (1979) 203: His temper was brittle. She knew if she asked anything, they would have a spat.
1999		Indep. on Sun. Real Life 18 July 12: This has resulted in some nasty domestic spats.
2000		Guardian Rev. 22 Jan. 7: Rather than get into spats, you should put all that energy into work.
2020		(con. 1991-94) W. Boyle City of Margins 107: ‘Heard you two had a little spat’.
2021		L. McInerney Rules of Revelation 73: [A]fter the spat with Louise she didn’t feel like hanging around.

2. a smart blow, smack or slap; also the sound thereof.

1845		J. Lindridge Sixteen-String Jack 83: I’ll be squashed if she didn’t give him the lovliest spat in the peepers that iver I saw in all my born or unborn days.
1905		‘Central Connecticut Word-List’ in DN III:i 20: spat, n. A slap.