Spatula

//ˈspætjʊlə// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A kitchen utensil consisting of a flat surface attached to a long handle, used for turning, lifting, or stirring food.
  2. 2
    a hand tool with a thin flexible blade used to mix or spread soft substances wordnet
  3. 3
    A kitchen utensil consisting of a flexible surface attached to a long handle, used for scraping the sides of bowls. Canada, US
  4. 4
    a turner with a narrow flexible blade wordnet
  5. 5
    A palette knife. dated
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    A thin hand tool, often made of nickel, for handling chemicals or other materials, when weighing, etc.
  2. 7
    A tongue depressor. UK
  3. 8
    A croupier's tool for turning up cards in a casino.

    "The croupier delicately faced her other two cards with the tip of his spatula. A four! She had lost!"

  4. 9
    A sclerotized, T-shaped plate in the prothorax of larvae of flies belonging to family Cecidomyiidae, the gall midges.

    "The third instars are similar to other members of the genus except for a three-pronged spatula (typically two-pronged) and five lateral papillae (typically four) and with a nonbristled first instar."

Verb
  1. 1
    To lift with or as if with a spatula. transitive

    "A book on Pastels referes [sic] to a rough Modeling paste to be spatulaed over cotton duck."

  2. 2
    To strike with a spatula. transitive

    "Or if you're a Ranma Character. I mean, they've been kicked/punched/thrown/hammered/spatulaed into the stratosphere enough times, you gotta figure they've developed a prretty high threshold of pain/injury."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin spatula (“a flat piece”), the diminutive form of spatha (“broad or flat tool”), from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “a broad wood or metal blade”). Doublet of spauld; compare spatha and spathe.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin spatula (“a flat piece”), the diminutive form of spatha (“broad or flat tool”), from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “a broad wood or metal blade”). Doublet of spauld; compare spatha and spathe.

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