Spade

Pronunciation

• IPA: /spejd/
• Homophones: spayed
• Rhymes: -eɪd

From Old English spadu, spada, from Proto-Germanic. Cognate with Old Frisian spada, Old Saxon spado, German Spaten. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sph₂-dʰ-, whence also Ancient Greek σπάθη (spathē, "blade"), Hittite išpatar ("spear") .

Full definition of spade

Noun

1. A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging. Not to be confused with a shovel which is used for moving earth or other materials.
• 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4'Make your mind easy,' Ratsey said; 'I have dug too often in this graveyard for any to wonder if they see me with a spade.'
2. A playing card marked with the symbol â™ .I've got only one spade in my hand.
3. (offensive, ethnic slur) A black person.
4. A cutting instrument used in flensing a whale.

Related terms

• in spades
• call a spade a spade

Verb

1. To turn over soil with a spade to loosen the ground for planting.
2. (videogaming) To collect and statistically analyze data, for the purpose of determining the underlying random number generator structure or numeric formula.

Compare spay, noun.

Alternative forms

• spaid
• spayade

Noun

1. A hart or stag three years old.
2. A castrated man or animal.

Anagrams

• adeps