spade 1
— spadelike , adj. — spader , n.
/spayd/ , n. , v. , spaded, spading .
n.
1. a tool for digging, having an iron blade adapted for pressing into the ground with the foot and a long handle commonly with a grip or crosspiece at the top, and with the blade usually narrower and flatter than that of a shovel.
2. some implement, piece, or part resembling this.
3. a sharp projection on the bottom of a gun trail, designed to dig into the earth to restrict backward movement of the carriage during recoil.
4. call a spade a spade , to call something by its real name; be candidly explicit; speak plainly or bluntly: To call a spade a spade, he's a crook.
5. in spades , Informal.
a. in the extreme; positively: He's a hypocrite, in spades.
b. without restraint; outspokenly: I told him what I thought, in spades.
v.t.
6. to dig, cut, or remove with a spade (sometimes fol. by up ): Let's spade up the garden and plant some flowers.
[ bef. 900; ME (n.); OE spadu; c. D spade, G Spaten, ON spathi spade, Gk spáthe broad, flat piece of wood ]
spade 2
/spayd/ , n.
1. a black figure shaped like an inverted heart and with a short stem at the cusp opposite the point, used on playing cards.
2. a card of the suit bearing such figures.
3. spades ,
a. ( used with a sing. or pl. v. ) the suit so marked: Spades is trump. Spades count double.
b. ( used with a pl. v. ) Casino. the winning of seven spades or more.
4. Slang ( disparaging and offensive ). a black person.
[ 1590-1600; spada orig., sword spatha spáthe; see SPADE 1 ]