Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A utensil consisting of a small, shallow bowl on a handle, used in preparing, serving, or eating food.
  • noun Something similar to this utensil or its bowl, as.
  • noun A shiny, curved, metallic fishing lure.
  • noun A paddle or an oar with a curved blade.
  • noun Sports A three wood golf club.
  • intransitive verb To lift, scoop up, or carry with or as if with a spoon.
  • intransitive verb Sports & Games To shove or scoop (a ball) into the air.
  • intransitive verb Informal To lie down behind and against (another person) so that both bodies face the same direction with the knees drawn up slightly like nested spoons.
  • intransitive verb To fish with a spoon lure.
  • intransitive verb Sports & Games To give a ball an upward scoop.
  • intransitive verb Informal To lie down with another person so that both bodies face the same direction with the knees drawn up slightly like spoons nested in each other.
  • intransitive verb Informal To engage in amorous behavior, such as kissing or caressing.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A thin piece of wood; a splinter; a chip.
  • noun A utensil consisting of a bowl or concave part and a handle, used for conveying liquids or liquid food to the mouth.
  • noun Something wholly or in part like a spoon (def. 2) or the bowl of a spoon in shape.
  • noun At Yale, formerly, the student who took the last appointment at the Junior Exhibition; later, the most popular student in a class.
  • noun In pianoforte-making, see damper-lifter.
  • noun In cricket, a mishit which sends the ball high in the air.
  • To take up or out with a spoon or ladle; remove with a spoon; empty or clean out with a spoon: often with up: as, to spoon up a liquid.
  • To lie close to, the face of one to the back of the other, as the bowl of one spoon within that of another. Compare spoon-fashion.
  • In croquet, to use the mallet as a spoon; push or shove the ball along with the mallet instead of striking it smartly as is required by the strict rules of the game.
  • To fish with spoon-bait.
  • To lie spoonfashion. Compare I., 2.
  • Same as spoom.
  • To be a spoon or spoony; be sillily in love.
  • In angling, to fish for with spoon-bait.
  • In golf, croquet, and similar games, to send (the ball) into the air with the club or mallet.
  • Specifically, in cricket, to send (the ball) high in the air by a mishit.
  • In golf, to move (the club) very slowly in putting, as though it were a teaspoon: an unfair stroke.
  • noun A foolish fellow; a simpleton; a spoony; a silly lover.
  • noun A fit of silliness; especially, a fit of silly love.
  • To be spoony about; be in love with; court.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb (Naut.), obsolete See spoom.
  • intransitive verb colloq. To act with demonstrative or foolish fondness, as one in love.
  • intransitive verb To fish with a spoon bait.
  • intransitive verb In croquet, golf, etc., to spoon a ball.
  • noun An implement consisting of a small bowl (usually a shallow oval) with a handle, used especially in preparing or eating food.
  • noun Anything which resembles a spoon in shape; esp. (Fishing), a spoon bait.
  • noun Slang Fig.: A simpleton; a spooney.
  • noun (Golf) A wooden club with a lofted face.
  • noun (Fishing) a lure used in trolling, consisting of a glistening metallic plate shaped like the bowl of a spoon with a fishhook attached.
  • noun a bit for boring, hollowed or furrowed along one side.
  • noun a net for landing fish.
  • noun See under Oar.
  • transitive verb To take up in, or as in, a spoon.
  • transitive verb (Fishing) To catch by fishing with a spoon bait.
  • transitive verb In croquet, golf, etc., to push or shove (a ball) with a lifting motion, instead of striking with an audible knock.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb nautical To turn to port and starboard erratically for short periods of time, in the manner of a sailing boat heading nearly directly into a shifting wind.
  • noun An implement for eating or serving; a scooped utensil whose long handle is straight, in contrast to a ladle.
  • noun An implement for stirring food while being prepared; a wooden spoon.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English spōn, chip of wood.]

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Examples

  • And yes, I do believe that a spoon is an acceptable vehicle for this condiment.

    Chipotle ketchup changes everything | Homesick Texan Homesick Texan 2009

  • The bending of the spoon is a structural mechanics problem.

    Wolfram Blog : The Spoons and the Summer School 2009

  • Drizzle melted butter and vanilla over crumbs and mix with your hands until thoroughly combined (a spoon is acceptable as well).

    Cherry Nectarine Brown Betty | Baking Bites 2009

  • If the spoon came neither from itself nor from a non-spoon, then we assert that something can come from nothing, and we have not determined why the spoon is a spoon and not anything else, say a fork.

    Hegel on Buddhism 2007

  • A Siwash single hook on the back of a spoon is a classic example.

    25 Tips for Tackle 2003

  • A Siwash single hook on the back of a spoon is a classic example.

    25 Tips for Tackle 2003

  • I thought he was saying that the thing we call a spoon is a prop or stand-in for a specific bunch of communicative understandings.

    The Forest for the Spoons 2004

  • Edward CastronovaI thought he was saying that the thing we call a spoon is a prop or stand-in for a specific bunch of communicative understandings.

    The Forest for the Spoons 2004

  • Edward CastronovaI thought he was saying that the thing we call a spoon is a prop or stand-in for a specific bunch of communicative understandings.

    The Forest for the Spoons 2004

  • I thought he was saying that the thing we call a spoon is a prop or stand-in for a specific bunch of communicative understandings.

    The Forest for the Spoons 2004

Comments

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  • When I was young, I would say the word spoon 25 or 30 times in succession. I found that most words lose their apparent sound-relevant meaning after doing this. Although I probably explained that incorrectly.

    It was almost as though they took on a different persona.

    November 25, 2008

  • I used to do that with couch.

    November 25, 2008

  • Tim Parks writes about an Italian (adult, at least in terms of years) doing this with bomb in a 'A Year With Verona'.

    November 25, 2008

  • Makes the difference.

    August 1, 2009

  • See badger-poking, for the use of

    May 12, 2018

  • See semantic satiation.

    May 14, 2018