Ladle Meaning
/ˈleɪ.dəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA deep-bowled spoonlike utensil with a long, usually curved, handle.
nounA container used in a foundry or steel mill to transport and pour out molten metal.
Sentence Examples
Ladle the soup into everyone's bowl.
She is holding a ladle with her left hand.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
She used a large ____ to serve the hot soup into bowls for the guests.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She used a large silver ____ to serve the hot vegetable soup into the bowls of the waiting guests.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English ladel, from Old English hlædel, derived from Proto-Germanic *hlaþaną (“to load”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- (“to put, lay out”), same source as Lithuanian kloti (“to spread”), equivalent to lade + -le (“agent suffix”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"When the materials of glass have been kept long in fusion, the mixture casts up the superfluous salt, which the workmen afterwards take off with ladles."
— 1680, Robert Boyle, Experiments and Notes about the Producibleness of Chemical Principles:
"The great guns ranged along the deck — each bound fast by its new breechings — with their linstocks and sponges and ladles and rammers, made no idle show of warlike strength."
— 1923, Charles Boardman Hawes, The Dark Frigate, Chapter 6:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She used a large ____ to serve the hot soup into bowls for the guests.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She used a large silver ____ to serve the hot vegetable soup into the bowls of the waiting guests.