spade

1
[ speyd ]
See synonyms for spade on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a tool for digging, having an iron blade adapted for pressing into the ground with the foot and a long handle commonly with a grip or crosspiece at the top, and with the blade usually narrower and flatter than that of a shovel.

  2. some implement, piece, or part resembling this.

  1. a sharp projection on the bottom of a gun trail, designed to dig into the earth to restrict backward movement of the carriage during recoil.

verb (used with object),spad·ed, spad·ing.
  1. to dig, cut, or remove with a spade (sometimes followed by up): Let's spade up the garden and plant some flowers.

Idioms about spade

  1. call a spade a spade, to call something by its real name; be candidly explicit; speak plainly or bluntly: To call a spade a spade, he's a crook.

  2. in spades, Informal.

    • in the extreme; positively: He's a hypocrite, in spades.

    • without restraint; outspokenly: I told him what I thought, in spades.

Origin of spade

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English spadu, spada; cognate with Dutch spade, German Spaten, Old Norse spathi “spade”; akin to Greek spáthē “blade (of a sword, oar), spatula”; perhaps akin to Sanskrit sphyá- “shoulder blade, scapula”

Other words from spade

  • spadelike, adjective
  • spader, noun
  • un·spad·ed, adjective

Words that may be confused with spade

Other definitions for spade (2 of 2)

spade2
[ speyd ]

noun
  1. a black figure shaped like an inverted heart and with a short stem at the cusp opposite the point, used on playing cards.

  2. a card of the suit bearing such figures.

  1. spades,

    • (used with a singular or plural verb) the suit so marked: Spades is trump.Spades count double.

    • (used with a plural verb)Casino. the winning of seven spades or more.

  2. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Black person.

Origin of spade

2
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Italian, plural of spada originally, “sword,” from Latin spatha, from Greek spáthē; see origin at spade1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for spade (1 of 2)

spade1

/ (speɪd) /


noun
  1. a tool for digging, typically consisting of a flat rectangular steel blade attached to a long wooden handle

    • an object or part resembling a spade in shape

    • (as modifier): a spade beard

  1. a heavy metallic projection attached to the trail of a gun carriage that embeds itself into the ground and so reduces recoil

  2. a type of oar blade that is comparatively broad and short: Compare spoon (def. 6)

  3. a cutting tool for stripping the blubber from a whale or skin from a carcass

  4. call a spade a spade to speak plainly and frankly

verb
  1. (tr) to use a spade on

Origin of spade

1
Old English spadu; related to Old Norse spathi, Old High German spato, Greek spathē blade

Derived forms of spade

  • spader, noun

British Dictionary definitions for spade (2 of 2)

spade2

/ (speɪd) /


noun
    • the black symbol on a playing card resembling a heart-shaped leaf with a stem

    • a card with one or more of these symbols or (when pl) the suit of cards so marked, usually the highest ranking of the four

  1. a derogatory word for Black

  1. in spades informal in an extreme or emphatic way

Origin of spade

2
C16: from Italian spada sword, used as an emblem on playing cards, from Latin spatha, from Greek spathē blade, broadsword

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with spade

spade

see call a spade a spade; do the spadework; in spades.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.