spatula
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spatula
1515–25; < Latin: a flat piece, batten, equivalent to spath ( a ) spathe + -ula -ule
Explanation
Don’t even think about making pancakes if you don’t have a spatula. What else would you flip them with? There are two main types of spatulas, both of which are kitchen utensils. One has a wide, flat surface attached to the end of a handle and is ideal for picking up, flipping, or serving hot foods like pancakes and hamburgers. The other has a more flexible end, usually made of rubber or plastic, and is used for mixing batter or spreading icing. Painters also use a type of spatula to mix or spread paint.
Vocabulary lists containing spatula
Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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Pestle, Sieve, and Whisk: Useful Words for Cooking Tools
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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.
Use a wide spatula if you have one.
From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026
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
The mother-of-three has gone on to sell her works - painted exclusively with a palette knife and spatula - for five-figure sums.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2025
Vola hoisted herself onto the counter and then held out her wooden leg and rapped it with the spatula.
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
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.
