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spades - 5 dictionary results
spade
1
[speyd] 
noun, verb, spad⋅ed, spad⋅ing.–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. |
| 3. | 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)
—Idioms| 4. | to dig, cut, or remove with a spade (sometimes fol. by up): Let's spade up the garden and plant some flowers. |
| 5. | 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. |
| 6. | in spades, Informal.
|
Origin:
bef. 900; ME (n.); OE spadu; c. D spade, G Spaten, ON spathi spade, Gk spáthē broad, flat piece of wood
bef. 900; ME (n.); OE spadu; c. D spade, G Spaten, ON spathi spade, Gk spáthē broad, flat piece of wood
Related forms:
spadelike, adjective
spader, noun
spade
2 [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. |
| 3. | spades,
|
| 4. | Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a black person. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To spades
| spade 1 (spād) n.
To dig or cut with a spade. [Middle English, from Old English spadu.] spad'er n. |
| spade 2 (spād) n.
[Italian spade, pl. of spada, card suit, from Latin spatha, sword, broad-bladed stirrer, from Greek spathē, broad blade.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
spades
trick-taking card game of the whist family that became very popular in the United States in the 1990s, though reportedly some 40 years old by that time. It is played by four players in bridge-style partnerships, each being dealt 13 cards one at a time from a standard 52-card deck. Spades are always the trump suit.
Learn more about spades with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Language Translation for : spades
Spanish:
picas, espadas,
German:
das Pik,
Japanese:
スペード１組
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