Spade (?), n. [Cf. Spay,
n.] 1. (Zoöl.) A
hart or stag three years old. [Written also spaid,
spayade.]
2. [Cf. L. spado.] A castrated man or
beast.
Spade (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Spaded; p. pr. & vb. n.
Spading.] To dig with a spade; to pare off the sward of,
as land, with a spade.
Spade, n. [AS. spæd;
spada; akin to D. spade, G. spaten, Icel.
spaði, Dan. & Sw. spade, L. spatha a spatula,
a broad two-edged sword, a spathe, Gr. spa`qh. Cf.
Epaulet, Spade at cards, Spathe, Spatula.]
1. An implement for digging or cutting the
ground, consisting usually of an oblong and nearly rectangular blade
of iron, with a handle like that of a shovel. "With spade
and pickax armed." Milton.
2. [Sp. espada, literally, a sword; -- so
caused because these cards among the Spanish bear the figure of a
sword. Sp. espada is fr. L. spatha, Gr.
spa`qh. See the Etymology above.] One of that suit of
cards each of which bears one or more figures resembling a
spade.
"Let spades be trumps!" she said.
Pope.
3. A cutting instrument used in flensing a
whale.
Spade bayonet, a bayonet with a broad blade
which may be used digging; -- called also trowel bayonet.
-- Spade handle (Mach.), the forked end
of a connecting rod in which a pin is held at both ends. See
Illust. of Knuckle joint, under Knuckle.