wooden spoon

noun

a booby prize, esp in sporting contests

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

Examples from the Web for wooden spoon

Historical Examples

When Phil showed him how his poverty was his calamity he said, "Ay, ay, I'm only a wooden-spoon man."
The Manxman
Hall Caine
She set him on his intellectual pins by commencing a conversation on the wooden-spoon exhibition.
Miss Ravenel's conversion from secession to loyalty
J. W. de Forest

wooden spoon

Examples from the Web for wooden spoon

Historical Examples

When Phil showed him how his poverty was his calamity he said, "Ay, ay, I'm only a wooden-spoon man."

She set him on his intellectual pins by commencing a conversation on the wooden-spoon exhibition.