spade: Definition, Synonyms and Much More from Answers.com
- ️Wed Jul 01 2015
|
| (Click to enlarge) |
| spade1 |
| ( School Division, Houghton Mifflin Company) |
n.
- A sturdy digging tool having a thick handle and a heavy, flat blade that can be pressed into the ground with the foot.
- Any of various similar digging or cutting tools.
tr.v., spad·ed, spad·ing, spades.
To dig or cut with a spade.
[Middle English, from Old English spadu.]
spader spad'er n.
spade2 (spād) 
n.
- Games.
- A black, leaf-shaped figure on certain playing cards.
- A playing card with this figure.
- also spades (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The suit of cards represented by this figure.
- Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a Black person.
idiom:
in spades
- To a considerable degree: They had financial trouble in spades.
[Italian spade, pl. of spada, card suit, from Latin spatha, sword, broad-bladed stirrer, from Greek spathē, broad blade.]
small spade for clay soil; the other one for sandy soil and loamy soil
A spade is a tool designed primarily for the purpose of digging or removing earth.[1] The first spades were made of graven wood. In the time of the Sumerians, iron ore was crafted to provide a sharper tip and more efficient digging.
Etymology
English spade is from Old English spadu, spædu (f.) or spada (m.). The same word is found in Old Frisian spade and Old Saxon spado. High German spaten only appears in Early Modern German, propably loaned from Low German. Scandinavian forms are in turn loaned from German. The term may thus not originate in Common Germanic and appears to be a North Sea Germanic innovation or loaned. Closely related is Greek σπαθη, whence Latin spatha.
English shovel is from Old English scofl (f.), cognate to Old High German scûvala (f.), from a Common Germanic skuflô, root cognate with shove.
Designs of spades
Spades are made in many shapes and sizes, for a variety of different functions and jobs. There are many different designs used in spade manufacturing. The most common spade is a garden spade, which typically has a long handle, is wide, and is treaded (has rests for the feet to drive the spade into the ground). An Irish spade is similar to a common garden spade, with the same general design, although it has a much thinner head. A turfing iron has a short, round head, and it used for cutting and parring off turf. A digging fork, or grape, is forked, much like a pitchfork and is useful for loosening ground, and gardening.
Digging tool
In gardening, a spade is a hand tool used to dig or loosen ground, or to break up clumps in the soil. Together with the fork it forms one of the chief implements wielded by the hand in agriculture and horticulture. It is sometimes considered a type of shovel. Its typical shape is a broad flat blade with a sharp lower edge, straight or curved. The upper edge on either side of the handle affords space for the user's foot, which drives it into the ground. The wooden handle ends in a cross-piece, sometimes T-shaped and sometimes forming a kind of loop for the hand.
Small and/or plastic toy versions of the same tool are used to dig sand castles on a beach or in a sand-box.
Other use
In the oil and chemical process industries, a spade is a round piece of metal with a small tab that is placed in between two pipe flanges to give positive isolation from the central atom; usually to prevent cross contamination between fluids or to allow work on the line. The name comes from the shape: a little like a garden spade. The small tab lets one see that the spade is in place.
Sources and references
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- Etymology OnLine
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - spade, neger
v. tr. - grave med en spade
idioms:
- call a spade a spade kalde en spade for en spade, kalde tingene ved deres rette navne
2.
n. - spar
Nederlands (Dutch)
schop, schoppen (kaart)
Français (French)
1.
n. - bêche, pelle
v. tr. - bêcher
idioms:
- call a spade a spade appeler un chat un chat
2.
n. - pique (des cartes)
Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Spaten
v. - (um)graben
idioms:
- call a spade a spade das Kind beim Namen nennen
2.
n. - Pikkarte
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - φτυάρι, μπαστούνι, πίκα (της τράπουλας), (αργκό) νέγρος, αράπης, σπάτουλα μαγειρικής
v. - σκάβω με φτυάρι
idioms:
- call a spade a spade λέω τα σύκα σύκα
Português (Portuguese)
n. - espadas (naipe) (f), pá (f)
v. - padejar
idioms:
- call a spade a spade chamar as coisas pelo seu nome, não fazer rodeios
Русский (Russian)
лопата, скребок, совок, нож, пиковая масть, черномазый, копать лопатой, разделывать
idioms:
- call a spade a spade называть вещи своими именами
Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - espadas, picos, pala, laya, arado, pico
v. tr. - lavar, zapar, remover la tierra
idioms:
- call a spade a spade llamar al pan pan y al vino vino
2.
n. - espadas (palo en naipes)
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - spader, spade
v. - gräva
中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
1. 铲, 铁锹, 用锹掘
idioms:
- call a spade a spade 直言不讳
2. 黑桃
中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 黑桃
2.
n. - 鏟, 鐵鍬
v. tr. - 鏟, 用鍬掘
idioms:
- call a spade a spade 直言不諱
한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - (부삽 모양의) 가래, 가래 비슷한 평평한 날 달린 도구
v. tr. - 가래로 파다, (고래 따위를) 끌로 잘라내다
idioms:
- call a spade a spade 사실 그대로 말하다, 직언하다
2.
n. - (카드놀이) 스페이드, 스페이드 한 벌, 흑인
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - すき, スペードの札, 踏み鋤, 黒人
v. - すきで掘る
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) ألبستوني في ورق أللعب, رفش, مسحاة (فعل) يجرف, يرفش
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - את-חפירה
v. tr. - חפר באת, עבד באת
n. - עלה, פיק (בקלפים), שחור, כושי
If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.
To select your translation preferences click here.