spatula

CEFRB1

/ˈspætjʊlə/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A flat tool used for lifting, spreading, or turning food.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A palette knife.

Examples

  • My kitchen help has the intelligence of a spatula.

  • Tom took a spatula out of the drawer.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈspæt͡ʃʊlə/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A kitchen utensil consisting of a flat surface attached to a long handle, used for turning, lifting, or stirring food.

  2. A thin hand tool, often made of nickel, for handling chemicals or other materials, when weighing, etc.

  3. A kitchen utensil consisting of a flexible surface attached to a long handle, used for scraping the sides of bowls.

More examples

In context

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

  • 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.

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

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The chef used a blank to flip the pancakes in the frying pan carefully.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.