ladle
Americannoun
-
ladles
plural
-
a long-handled utensil with a cup-shaped bowl for dipping or conveying liquids.
-
Metallurgy. a bucketlike, refractory-lined container for transferring molten metal.
verb (used with object)
-
ladles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ladled,
past participle, past
-
ladling
present participle
noun
-
a long-handled spoon having a deep bowl for serving or transferring liquids
a soup ladle
-
a large bucket-shaped container for transferring molten metal
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ladlesimple
-
ladlessimple
-
have ladledperfect
-
has ladledperfect
-
am ladlingprogressive
-
are ladlingprogressive
-
is ladlingprogressive
-
have been ladlingperfect progressive
-
has been ladlingperfect progressive
Past
-
ladledsimple
-
had ladledperfect
-
was ladlingprogressive
-
were ladlingprogressive
-
had been ladlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ladle
before 1000; Middle English ladel, Old English hlædel. See lade, -le
Explanation
A ladle is a large spoon with a deep bowl for scooping and serving soup and other liquids. If you make clam chowder, it might be messy to serve it without using a ladle. The serving implement is called a ladle, and you can also use this word as a verb: "Will you ladle some of that tomato soup into my bowl?" The Old English version was hlædel, from hladan, "to load," plus the "tool" suffix -le (like in thimble or handle).
Vocabulary lists containing ladle
Pestle, Sieve, and Whisk: Useful Words for Cooking Tools
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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:
The beef noodle soup, which accounts for about 80% of orders, contains noodles, beef, one ladle of original stock and one ladle of fresh broth to dilute the stock’s intense flavor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
You cannot bail out the Titanic with a soup ladle.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
When the sauna is hot, I ladle water and splash the stones.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
The championships are considered a major cultural event in the Netherlands, even featuring special postage stamps with the logo of a ladle and potato masher.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
Little Chester ran up and tried to grab a handful of cowpeas, but Alice swatted him away with her ladle.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Inside, workers dipped ladles into buckets filled with soup that they poured into Styrofoam containers stuffed with rice to distribute to Haitians who have lost homes to gang violence.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
To top it off, I drizzled a little raita yogurt, then green chutney using the tips of their ladles.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2024
It’s womb-like and astral, and Lustwerk’s talk-raps, which he casually ladles throughout, are like reassuring commands.
From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2022
The cover of Vishwesh Bhatt’s new cookbook is a still-life photograph: Jars of black-eyed peas stand near silver ladles tinged with patina, and next to them, collard leaves fan out and over.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2022
She dipped out three ladles of batter, poured them sputtering into the other pan, then set the bowl down.
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
Many remain convinced a tsunami could yet strike, he said, as government aid workers ladled rice porridge into bowls for the evacuees.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
President ladled his usual flattery on Mr. Xi as a “great” and “powerful” leader, and said the two are now fast friends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
A communal kitchen ladled out potato soup for their dinner.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2025
Then they ladled the liquid into small cups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2025
Theon queued up with the other men for porridge, ladled into wooden bowls from a row of copper kettles.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
A few metres away, his mother Beatrice was busy ladling out and flipping crepes spread from brim to brim with a generous layer of chocolate-hazelnut spread.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Before serving, cover and turn off the heat and allow to rest a bit before reheating to desired temperature before ladling into bowls.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2024
The women, ladling out stew and potatoes with frozen hands, scoffed at the idea that the police could stop the crossings.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2023
In the town of Staryi Saltiv, women were ladling out soup into containers for a line of townspeople as other volunteers ran a generator for people to charge their cellphones.
From New York Times ● Oct. 24, 2022
He would cry out with rage when she stopped ladling, he would try to wrench the saucepan and spoon out of her hands, he would grab bits from his sister’s plate.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
