I. ˈspün sometimes ˈspu̇n noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English spone, spoon, from Old English spōn; akin to Old High German spān splinter, chip of wood, Old Norse spānn, spōnn chip, spoon, Greek sphēn wedge
1. obsolete : a thin piece of wood : splinter , chip
2. : a usually metal, plastic, or wooden eating or cooking implement consisting of a small oval or round shallow bowl with a handle — often used in combination
spoon maker
baby spoon
jelly spoon
tea spoon
3. : something that resembles a spoon in shape: as
a. or spoon shovel : a long bar with a small oval inclined blade at the end used in excavating deep narrow holes
b. : a lever that forms part of the stop motion on a drawing frame
4. : spoonful
two spoons of sugar
5. : wooden spoon 1
6. slang : simpleton
7. : a usually metal or shell fishing lure shaped like the bowl of a spoon — see lure illustration
8. : a wooden golf club made with a slightly shorter and stiffer shaft and more loft than a driver or brassie and used through the green for long high shots — see wood illustration
9.
a. : horn spoon 2
b. : scraper 1j
10. : a smudged and crushed loop left in the ice by a figure skater who makes a faulty turn
11. : a chrysanthemum with long tubular ray florets and a spoon-shaped tip
II. adjective
1. : used to hold spoons
spoon box
spoon rack
2. : shaped like a spoon
spoon strainer
or the bowl of a spoon
spoon shell
3. : eaten with or suitable for eating with a spoon usually because liquid or semisolid
spoon food
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to take up and usually transfer in a spoon
they spoon their consommé — Mollie Panter-Downes
spooned the tomatoes into the glass jars — H.D.Skidmore
mother spooned out bowls of porridge — Margaret Kennedy
sat placidly spooning up yogurt — Time
the dredge spooned up mud
2. : to nestle close to and facing the back of (a person) while lying down
3.
[probably from the Welsh custom of an engaged man's presenting his fiancée with a love spoon]
: to make love to by caressing, kissing, and talking amorously : pet , neck
have spooned other women — Margaret W. Hungerford
sometimes : woo , court
spooning his sister — Kenneth Grahame
4. : to propel (a ball) by a stroke having a weak lifting motion
intransitive verb
1. : to immerse a spoon (as into a liquid)
spooning into a bowl of milk toast — William DuBois
2. : to nestle close to and facing the back of a person while lying down
sleepers spooning together — Lee Meriwether
— often used with up
she tucked the bedclothes around him and then spooning up she fell asleep — Willard Robertson
3. : to make love by caressing, kissing, and talking amorously : neck
spooned out on the decks — Louis Armstrong
4. : to spoon a ball (as a golfball)
IV. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: origin unknown
of a boat : to drive steadily and swiftly before or as if before a strong wind