A printer comprises a platen roller (22), a print head (12) that ejects ink from nozzle holes to a print medium held by the platen roller (22), a maintenance mechanism (13) that cleans the print head (12), and an ejected ink receptacle (18) that absorbs and holds ink ejected and discarded from the print head (12) by the spit operation. The ejected ink receptacle (18) is placed on the side of the platen roller (22) opposite to the side where the maintenance mechanism (13) exists. The ejected ink receptacle (18) comprises a replaceably provided absorbent pad. When the print operation temporarily halts, the print head (12) moves to a position where it opposes the ejected ink receptacle (18) and performs the spit operation for ejecting and discarding ink inside the nozzle.