Library / English Dictionary

SPOON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A piece of cutlery with a shallow bowl-shaped container and a handle; used to stir or serve or take up food

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("spoon" is a kind of...):

container (any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another))

cutlery; eating utensil (tableware implements for cutting and eating food)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spoon"):

dessert spoon (a spoon larger than a teaspoon and smaller than a tablespoon)

runcible spoon (a fork-like spoon with a cutting edge; coined by Edward Lear)

soup spoon; soupspoon (a spoon with a rounded bowl for eating soup)

sugar shell; sugar spoon (a spoon for serving sugar; often made in the shape of a seashell)

tablespoon (a spoon larger than a dessert spoon; used for serving)

tea maker (a covered spoon with perforations)

teaspoon (a small spoon used for stirring tea or coffee; holds about one fluid dram)

wooden spoon (a spoon made of wood)

Derivation:

spoon (scoop up or take up with a spoon)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Formerly a golfing wood with an elevated face

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("spoon" is a kind of...):

wood (a golf club with a long shaft used to hit long shots; originally made with a wooden head)

Sense 3

Meaning:

As much as a spoon will hold

Example:

he added two spoons of sugar

Synonyms:

spoon; spoonful

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("spoon" is a kind of...):

containerful (the quantity that a container will hold)

Derivation:

spoon (scoop up or take up with a spoon)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Snuggle and lie in a position where one person faces the back of the others

Synonyms:

smooch; spoon

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "spoon" is one way to...):

make out; neck (kiss, embrace, or fondle with sexual passion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Scoop up or take up with a spoon

Example:

spoon the sauce over the roast

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "spoon" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

"Spoon" entails doing...:

immerse; plunge (thrust or throw into)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

The women spoon water into the bowl

Derivation:

spoon (a piece of cutlery with a shallow bowl-shaped container and a handle; used to stir or serve or take up food)

spoon (as much as a spoon will hold)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The normal growth of babies can be broken down into the following areas: • Gross motor - controlling the head, sitting, crawling, maybe even starting to walk • Fine motor - holding a spoon, picking up a piece of cereal between thumb and finger • Sensory - seeing, hearing, tasting, touching and smelling • Language - starting to make sounds, learning some words, understanding what people say • Social - the ability to play with family members and other children

(Infant and Newborn Development, NIH)

They bristled with unknown perils, and he gazed at them, fascinated, till their dazzle became a background across which moved a succession of forecastle pictures, wherein he and his mates sat eating salt beef with sheath-knives and fingers, or scooping thick pea-soup out of pannikins by means of battered iron spoons.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“Exactly so,” replied Traddles, “all to be earned. Of course we have something in the shape of tea-spoons, because we stir our tea. But they're Britannia metal.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Behind her came a maid with a high pile of wooden plates, and a great sheaf of spoons, one of which she handed round to each of the travellers.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The spoons, forks, and other instruments, were all in the same proportion.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The spoons were moved slowly: I saw each girl taste her food and try to swallow it; but in most cases the effort was soon relinquished.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She had to wash the cups every morning, and polish up the old-fashioned spoons, the fat silver teapot, and the glasses till they shone.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

There was once a very old man, whose eyes had become dim, his ears dull of hearing, his knees trembled, and when he sat at table he could hardly hold the spoon, and spilt the broth upon the table-cloth or let it run out of his mouth.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Even the children were instructed, each to dip a wooden spoon into Mr. Micawber's pot, and pledge us in its contents.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Whilst the song had been singing Dame Eliza and the maid had placed a board across two trestles, and had laid upon it the knife, the spoon, the salt, the tranchoir of bread, and finally the smoking dish which held the savory supper.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)