ladle

[leyd-l]

noun

1. a long-handled utensil with a cup-shaped bowl for dipping or conveying liquids.

2. Metallurgy.,  a bucketlike, refractory-lined container for transferring molten metal.

verb (used with object)

ladled, ladling 

1. to dip or convey with or as if with a ladle.

   to ladle soup into bowls.

ladle

/ ˈleɪdəl /

noun

1. a long-handled spoon having a deep bowl for serving or transferring liquids

   a soup ladle

2. a large bucket-shaped container for transferring molten metal

verb

1. (tr) to lift or serve out with or as if with a ladle

Other Word Forms

• ladler noun
• unladled adjective
• ladleful noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ladle¹

before 1000; Middle English ladel, Old English hlædel. See lade, -le

Word History and Origins

Origin of ladle¹

Old English hlædel, from hladan to draw out

Example Sentences

The movie purports to dip into the deep well of Shakespearean magnificence but emerges only with a ladle full of greasy schmaltz.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

I like anything effervescent and not too sweet, ideally ladled from a punch bowl because punch bowls inherently make adults feel like children in the best possible way.

Read more on Salon

Wordlessly, the seated girls passed their bowls to the end, where the eldest girl ladled in the porridge and passed the bowls back full.

Read more on Literature

Here in Chicago, every coffee shop worth its salt now ladles out some steaming permutation of oat mush with a swirl of tahini or jam, SQIRL-style.

Read more on Salon

Desperate, I grabbed a plastic ladle from the kitchen to change the mojo.

Read more on Los Angeles Times