: 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
Phrases
in spades
: to an unusually great degree : in the extreme
Word History
Etymology
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).
1tool for digging挖掘工具ADJECTIVE | VERB + SPADE | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤garden園藝鏟◇There was a garden spade in the shed.工棚裏有一把園藝鏟。VERB + SPADE➤use用鏟子◇He dug a deep hole in the lawn with his spade.他用鏟子在草地上挖了個深坑。PHRASES➤bucket and spade (BrE) 桶和鏟◇children playing in the sand with their buckets and spades拿着桶和小鏟在沙地上玩耍的孩子們➤call a spade a spade (= to speak honestly and openly)直言不諱◇I believe in calling a spade a spade.我篤信直言不諱,實話實說。spade