spadeful

[ speyd-fool ]

noun,plural spade·fuls.
  1. the amount that can be dug out with or carried on a spade.

Origin of spadeful

1
First recorded in 1635–45; spade1 + -ful

Words Nearby spadeful

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use spadeful in a sentence

  • After dinner we dug a small hole in the floor of the outer tent, in which we placed a spadeful of red-hot embers from the fire.

    Three in Norway | James Arthur Lees
  • There would be no getting used to it, every moment, every hour, that passed would but put another spadeful of earth on his coffin.

    The Angel of Pain | E. F. Benson
  • Yesterday a spadeful of diamonds dumped upon a velvet cloth was only a spadeful of diamonds to him, and it was nothing more.

    What Will People Say? | Rupert Hughes
  • "I can see roses in that, miss," said the gardener, turning up a deep spadeful for her inspection.

    The Incendiary | W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
  • I cant budge a spadeful of this hard ground, Betty, complained Ruth, as her companion joined her.

    Girl Scouts at Dandelion Camp | Lillian Elizabeth Roy