spoon
verb
- make a spoon-like formation (cuddle?)
noun
- musical instrument
- utensil consisting of a small shallow bowl, oval or round, at the end of a handle
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /spuːn/ / [ˈspʊu̯n]
noun
Etymology: From Middle English spoon, spoune, spone, spon (“spoon, chip of wood”), from Old English spōn (“sliver, chip of wood, shaving”), from Proto-West Germanic *spānu, from Proto-Germanic *spēnuz (“chip, flake, shaving”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peH- (“chip, shaving, log, length of wood”). Cognate with Scots spun, spon (“spoon, shingle”), West Frisian spoen (“chip”), Dutch spaan (“chip, flinders”), German Span (“chip, flake, shaving”), Swedish spån (“chip, flake”), Norwegian Nynorsk spon (“chip, spoon”), Faroese spónur (“wood chip; spoon”), Ancient Greek σφήν (sphḗn, “wedge”)(though the connection to the Greek is likely impossible by modern reconstructions of PIE). Eclipsed non-native Middle English cuculer, coclear (“spoon”), from Old English cuculer, cuceler, cucler, borrowed from Latin cochlear (“spoon”). The "metaphoric unit of personal energy" sense was coined by writer and disability advocate Christine Miserandino in 2003 (see spoon theory).
- An implement for eating or serving; a scooped utensil whose long handle is straight, in contrast to a ladle.
“He must have a long spoon that must eat with the devil.”
- An implement for stirring food while being prepared; a wooden spoon.
- A measure that will fit into a spoon; a spoonful.
“While Ms. Fly was with Sharon in the kitchen, Sharon asked the defendant for a “spoon of drugs.” Defendant refused and stated that he did not know where drugs could be obtained.”
- A wooden-headed golf club with moderate loft, similar to the modern fairway wood.
- An oar.
“To this class college rowing offers no attractions or place, nor are they generally looked upon by the artists of the "spoons" as a desirable addition […]”
- A type of metal lure resembling the concave head of a tablespoon.
- A spoon excavator.
- A South African shrub of the genus Spatalla.
- A simpleton, a spoony.
“To get all the advantages of being with men of this sort, you must know how to draw your inferences and not be a spoon who takes things literally.”
- A safety handle on a hand grenade, a trigger.
- A metaphoric unit of finite physical and mental energy available for daily activities, especially in the context of living with chronic illness or disability.
“We therefore have to meticulously plan out each day with the small amount of spoons we have. Each task will cost us at least one spoon.”
“You work, and play, and clean, and love, and hate, and that's lots of damn spoons . . . but if you are young and healthy you still have spoons left over as you fall asleep and wait for the new supply of spoons to be delivered in the morning.”
verb
Etymology: Uncertain. Compare spoom.
- Alternative form of spoom.
“We might have spooned before the wind as well as they.”