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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Orbiting Jupiter
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Other Words for Home
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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:
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
Having finished second last year, Vos said he was "very, very proud" to be taking home the silver ladle this time.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
The movie purports to dip into the deep well of Shakespearean magnificence but emerges only with a ladle full of greasy schmaltz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
The cook with his carroty head is begging us to eat; he beckons with his ladle to every one that passes, and spoons him out a great dollop.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
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.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2025
Kristofferson never sounded more like Leonard Cohen than he did here, rhapsodizing in a parched croon about a woman’s redeeming devotion as producer Fred Foster ladles on just the right amount of easy-listening schmaltz.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2024
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
In it, nutty-tasting farro is given the risotto treatment, cooked gradually in ladles full of hot broth until it is enveloped in creaminess, and the grain is tender but retains its enticing chew.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 22, 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
Then they ladled the liquid into small cups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2025
Having already ladled out free soup last October, seasoned community worker Ms Lewis, 48, said she knew the time was right for a follow-up.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2023
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
Serra had created it by splashing and ladling a pot of molten lead against the base of the wall.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 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
Then, and only then, does Smith fry the patty, obsessively ladling rendered beef fat over the meat until the surface caramelizes to wring out that Maillard reaction.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 2023
Mom and Dad are down there, spoons clinking on their bowls, ladling out soup for their uninvited dinner guest, their fellow conspirator.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
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.
