spatula

American  

[spach-uh-luh] / ˈspætʃ ə lə /

noun

1. an implement with a broad, flat, usually flexible blade, used for blending foods or removing them from cooking utensils, mixing drugs, spreading plasters and paints, etc.

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spatula British  

/ ˈspætjʊlə /

noun

1. a utensil with a broad flat, often flexible blade, used for lifting, spreading, or stirring foods, etc

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Other Word Forms

• spatular adjective

Etymology

Origin of spatula

1515–25; < Latin: a flat piece, batten, equivalent to spath ( a ) spathe + -ula -ule

Example Sentences

Further, one of the spatula papers turned out to have contained a math error.

From Slate • Jan. 14, 2026

Norway’s Sven Seljom, a burly 57, described how he uses black Norwegian oats and prefers to use a spatula, to a chorus of boos.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 19, 2025

My one good spatula had gone missing under a tea towel stiff with dough.

From Salon • Oct. 14, 2025

Later, Alma discovers Frederik conducting classical music with a spatula over the stove, hair graying and wild like he’s starring in “Das Kitchen des Dr. Caligari.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025

She dropped the spatula she’d been holding and stepped away from the bags and boxes to grab her purse off the kitchen table.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman