spatulate

[ spach-uh-lit, -leyt ]

adjective

shaped like a spatula; rounded more or less like a spoon.
Botany. having a broad, rounded end and a narrow, attenuate base, as a leaf.

Origin of spatulate

From the New Latin word spatulātus, dating back to 1750–60. See spatula, -ate¹

Other words from spatulate

sub·spat·u·late, adjective

Words Nearby spatulate

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

How to use spatulate in a sentence

Short, spatulate fingers, with a broad palm, appear to be a feature of the successful engineer.
Opportunities in Engineering | Charles M. Horton
It was a characteristic hand, broad, with spatulate fingernails and a black star on the fleshy ball between forefinger and thumb.
The Incendiary | W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
Behold the brands of the true criminal—'enormous zygomae,' 'ear lobes attached to the cheek,' 'spatulate fingernails——'
The Incendiary | W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
Every hand artist will be found to have spatulate-fingered hands—in short, muscular hands.
How to Analyze People on Sight | Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict
Note the spatulate terminations and the spines of the shaft, 11.
The Appendages, Anatomy, and Relationships of Trilobites | Percy Edward Raymond

British Dictionary definitions for spatulate

spatulate

/ (ˈspætjʊlɪt) /

adjective

shaped like a spatula
Also: spathulate botany having a narrow base and a broad rounded apex: a spatulate leaf

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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