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sprinkle ~ spray

[different pronunciation]

“Sprinkle”, as a verb, is ‘to throw (scatter or spread) small pieces of something or small drops of liquid or small pieces of something, such as salt, sugar, sand, dust, etc., on/onto something; to include a few things in something else; {in American English = to rain lightly (drizzle)}’; as a noun, it is ‘a small amount of something that is scattered on something’,

{A ‘sprinkler’ is a device that is used to sprinkle water on lawns.}

e.g.

She sprinkled some sugar over the cake.

This book is sprinkled with some important clippings from reputed newspapers.

He added a sprinkle of salt to the soup.

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“Spray”, as a verb, is ‘to force some liquid out of something over something else; to cover something or somebody with very small drops of some liquid, usually with a lot of force’; as a noun, it is ‘the very small drops of some liquid that are scattered over something; some kind of container from which some kind of liquid is forced out; a small branch or stem with leaves and flowers on it used for decoration’,

e.g.

Somebody sprayed black ink on her white skirt.

She took out a perfume spray from her handbag and sprayed herself generously before entering the dance hall.

Farmers use sprays to control pests.

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