spatula

American  

[spach-uh-luh] / ˈspætʃ ə lə /

noun

• spatulae,
  plural
• spatulas
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• spatular
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spatulae
  plural
• spatulas
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spatula spatulae spatulas

I’d love a cooking spatula that could tell—without penetration—what temperature or how thoroughly cooked a hamburger or steak is, such as rare, medium or well done.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

If you know someone isn’t a great cook, don’t expect them to pick up a spatula come breakfast time.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026

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

From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2026

Earlier this month, she said she got emotional reaching for a spatula that wasn’t there and it reminded her of the home in Altadena.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2025

Liyana’s mother stood over the skillet with the spatula poised, like a scientist.

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye

Geckos’ toes are covered with hundreds of thousands of tiny hairs known as setae, with each seta, in turn, branching into hundreds of tiny, flat, triangular tips called spatulae.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

Although dispersion forces are very weak, the total attraction over millions of spatulae is large enough to support many times the gecko’s weight.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

The huge numbers of spatulae on its setae provide a gecko, shown in Figure 10.8, with a large total surface area for sticking to a surface.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

Alex Greaney and Congcong Hu at Oregon State University described how geckos can achieve this by changing the angle between their spatulae and the surface.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

There is evil enough in these long, sharp spatulae of yours," said she, "to ruin the world.

From The Golden Dog by William Kirby

Working with a group of assistants wielding massive wooden spatulas, Baci's crowning dish was later distributed for everyone to enjoy.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025

Black spatulas won’t kill you, and the lights in the sky aren’t alien spaceships or Iranian bombers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2024

The newest example in this genre: Concerning compounds in black plastic spatulas are migrating into our cooking oil, according to an article Atlantic titled in no uncertain terms: “Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula.”

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2024

For several days, Mr. Wang wandered around the factory’s showroom, assessing what among the rows of plastic bowls and spatulas he could pitch well.

From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2023

“So if we’re spatulas, what does that make you? Safety scissors? Or are you just a couple of tools?”

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman