spade

noun (1)

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\ ˈspād

Definition of spade

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : a digging implement adapted for being pushed into the ground with the foot

2 : a spade-shaped instrument

spade

verb

spaded; spading

Definition of spade (Entry 2 of 3)

transitive verb

: to dig up or out or shape with or as if with a spade

intransitive verb

: to use a spade

spade

noun (2)

Definition of spade (Entry 3 of 3)

1a : a black figure that resembles a stylized spearhead on each playing card of one of the four suits also : a card marked with this figure

b spades plural in form but singular or plural in construction : the suit comprising cards marked with spades

2 offensive —used as an insulting and contemptuous term for a Black person

in spades

: to an unusually great degree : in the extreme

History and Etymology for spade

Noun (1)

Middle English, going back to Old English spadu, spædu, spade (plural spadan), going back to Germanic *spaðōn- (whence also Old Saxon spado "digging implement, spade," Old Frisian spada, early Modern German Spaten, Icelandic spaði), akin to Greek spáthē "any of various blade-like implements or objects," both going back to Indo-European *sph₂-dh-, perhaps a suffixed derivative of the verbal base *speh₂- "draw, pull out" — more at spasm

Note: Hittite išpann-, išpatar "spit, skewer" has also been compared, though according to Jaan Puhvel the stem would reflect *speh₂-tr- rather than *speh₂-dhr- (see Hittite Etymological Dictionary, vol. 1/2, pp. 450-51). Probably also relevant are Sanskrit sphya- "shoulder blade," Khotanese phvai "spade, shovel," perhaps reflecting *sph₂-i-o- (for further Indo-Iranian forms see Manfred Mayrhofer, Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen, 3. Band, p. 547; H.W. Bailey, Dictionary of Khotan Saka, Cambridge, 1979, p. 264).