spade
1a tool for digging, having an iron blade adapted for pressing into the ground with the foot and a long handle commonly with a grip or crosspiece at the top, and with the blade usually narrower and flatter than that of a shovel.
some implement, piece, or part resembling this.
a sharp projection on the bottom of a gun trail, designed to dig into the earth to restrict backward movement of the carriage during recoil.
to dig, cut, or remove with a spade (sometimes followed by up): Let's spade up the garden and plant some flowers.
Idioms about spade
call a spade a spade, to call something by its real name; be candidly explicit; speak plainly or bluntly: To call a spade a spade, he's a crook.
in spades, Informal.
in the extreme; positively: He's a hypocrite, in spades.
without restraint; outspokenly: I told him what I thought, in spades.
Origin of spade
1Other words from spade
- spadelike, adjective
- spader, noun
- un·spad·ed, adjective
Words that may be confused with spade
- spade , spay
Words Nearby spade
Other definitions for spade (2 of 2)
a black figure shaped like an inverted heart and with a short stem at the cusp opposite the point, used on playing cards.
a card of the suit bearing such figures.
spades,
(used with a singular or plural verb) the suit so marked: Spades is trump.Spades count double.
(used with a plural verb)Casino. the winning of seven spades or more.
Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Black person.
Origin of spade
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use spade in a sentence
As a company that is beholden to stockholders, Kate spade usually lags, not leads trends.
Handbags: The More You Pay, The Smaller They Shrink | Elizabeth Landers | December 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBecause it is, as spade and Wilse say, a “tool of social control used by governments to regulate sexuality and family formation.”
Were Christians Right About Gay Marriage All Along? | Jay Michaelson | May 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut then we might have been deprived of Nick and Nora, Sam spade and the Continental Op.
But there are four other published spade stories out there, and it would be nice to have them between covers in one volume.
The administration refused to budge on calling a spade a spade.
His strong legs and his broad, spade-like feet helped to make him a fine swimmer.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole | Arthur Scott BaileyThe labour of the spade and of the loom, and the petty gains of trade, he contemptuously abandoned to men of a lower caste.
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington MacaulayWhen a spade declaration has been made by dummy, one trump less is necessary and the doubler need not be on the declarer's left.
Except in the case of a spade declaration, cases in which redoubling is justifiable are very rare.
A spade declaration by the dealer can be doubled with even less strength.
British Dictionary definitions for spade (1 of 2)
/ (speɪd) /
a tool for digging, typically consisting of a flat rectangular steel blade attached to a long wooden handle
an object or part resembling a spade in shape
(as modifier): a spade beard
a heavy metallic projection attached to the trail of a gun carriage that embeds itself into the ground and so reduces recoil
a type of oar blade that is comparatively broad and short: Compare spoon (def. 6)
a cutting tool for stripping the blubber from a whale or skin from a carcass
call a spade a spade to speak plainly and frankly
(tr) to use a spade on
Origin of spade
1Derived forms of spade
- spader, noun
British Dictionary definitions for spade (2 of 2)
/ (speɪd) /
the black symbol on a playing card resembling a heart-shaped leaf with a stem
a card with one or more of these symbols or (when pl) the suit of cards so marked, usually the highest ranking of the four
a derogatory word for Black
in spades informal in an extreme or emphatic way
Origin of spade
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with spade
see call a spade a spade; do the spadework; in spades.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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