Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Shaped like a spatula.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Shaped like a spatula; in zoology and anatomy, spoon-shaped, or rounded more or less like the outlines of a spoon; spatuliform; in botany, shaped like a spatula; resembling a spatula in shape, being oblong or rounded with a long narrow attenuate base: as, a spatulate leaf, petal, or other flattened organ. Also
spathulate . See cuts under Eurynorhynchus, paddle-fish, Parotia, Prioniturus, Spathura, and shoveler.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Nat. Hist.) Shaped like spatula, or like a battledoor, being roundish, with a long, narrow, linear base.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Shaped like a
spatula ; having a rounded, flattened extremity. - adjective botany, of leaf Having a
broad , flat end andtapering into anarrower base. - verb To treat or mix with a spatula.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective (of a leaf shape) having a broad rounded apex and a narrow base
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Curved on top, perfectly spatulate nails (a sign of intuitive insight), a healthy shell pink, crowning long, slender pianist fingers.
Anhedonia (excerpt) Laura Preble 2010
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He noticed for the millionth time that her fingertips were slightly spatulate, as if her body needed to touch more, feel more than other people.
The Secret Animal 2010
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Her spatulate fingers tapped the floor plans of 5 Curzon Close.
Naked Cruelty Colleen McCullough 2010
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If we no longer understand a word they are saying, then we may want to turn to those still willing to call a ‘spade’ a spade rather than a ‘fabricated long-handled domestic or industrial spatulate tool designed to lift and move material from one place to another’.
Archive 2008-03-09 2008
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Broad spatulate leaves of olive and black backed the green bloom.
Shopgirls Frederick Barthelme 2010
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If we no longer understand a word they are saying, then we may want to turn to those still willing to call a ‘spade’ a spade rather than a ‘fabricated long-handled domestic or industrial spatulate tool designed to lift and move material from one place to another’.
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Her hands are spatulate and flat-nailed, pale, like the rest of her.
Angels Carry the Sun excerpt: Chapter One, In the Woods 2010
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Viz inspected each wing in turn, men his enormous, formidably clawed feet, lastly the broad, spatulate tail.
The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010
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His arms were long, his hands huge, with spatulate, magnetic fingers and the soft, unerring touch of a poolshark.
LIGHT FINGERS 2009
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He tells us that a character dug in the dirt with “the tines of his stubby and spatulate fingers.”
born2badored commented on the word spatulate
sadly enough, I had a girlfriend once who was spatulated by her mother
December 8, 2006
dailyword commented on the word spatulate
Holmes used this word once when he was talking to his female client who was a typist.
June 2, 2012