spoonful
Americannoun
-
the amount that a spoon is able to hold
-
a small quantity
Spelling
See -ful.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of spoonful
First recorded in 1250–1300, spoonful is from the Middle English word sponeful. See spoon, -ful
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She works as a healthcare clown for Boston Children’s Hospital on the side and continues to live by the clowning code: be open-minded and take life with a spoonful of levity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
It is in our nature to see something new and spit it out like we are 2 years old and PepsiCo has offered us a spoonful of broccoli.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
At home, I cooked the onion and grated squash in butter with a spoonful of honey, miso and red-pepper flakes until they became jammy.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
“I like to immerse myself and have a real experience and hopefully make it funny so it’s like a spoonful of sugar for the audience as they learn something.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
I was a real girl, my mother fed me her glass dreams one spoonful at a time.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
“The taste is the inheritance,” said Kaweenuntawong, who remembers sipping spoonfuls as a toddler.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
I’ll cut up a few wedges of lemon and squeeze them on top of my soup — even saving a few extra wedges to squeeze in between spoonfuls.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
He had two spoonfuls, Mr. Valdez, 31, said.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
We put generous spoonfuls onto our white rice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2023
Her eyes were solid green, like all nature had been condensed into a few spoonfuls of organic matter.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
