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spade1
—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.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]spade2/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; < It, pl. of spada orig., sword < L spatha < Gk spáthe; see SPADE1]
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Universalium. 2010.
