Spade Definition
- To speak plainly and forthrightly.
- To a considerable degree:
They had financial trouble in spades.
- to call something by its right name; use plain, blunt words
- in an extreme or emphatic way
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Spade
Origin of Spade
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From Old English spadu, spada, from Proto-Germanic. Cognate with Old Frisian spada, Old Saxon spado, German Spaten. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sphâ‚‚-dÊ°-, whence also Ancient Greek σπάθη (spathÄ“, “blade"), Hittite iÅ¡patar (“spear") [Cuneiform?].
From Wiktionary
Italian spade pl. of spada card suit from Latin spatha sword, broad-bladed stirrer from Greek spathē broad blade
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Middle English from Old English spadu
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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Compare spay, noun.
From Wiktionary
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