Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Spatula |
SpatulaNoun1. A turner with a narrow flexible blade. 2. A hand tool with a thin flexible blade used to mix or spread soft substances. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "spatula" was first used: 1525. (references) |
Etymology: Spatula \Spat"u*la\, noun. [Latin expression spatula, spathula, diminutive of spatha spatula: French spatule. See Spade for digging.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Personal Care & Hotels | Wooden instrument used with flour mixtures and sauces by some cooks. Source: European Union. (references) |
Medicine | A flat blunt knife used for mixing or transferring powders or ointments. Source: European Union. (references) |
Personal Care & Hotels | A kitchen or serving instrument consisting of a thin flat blade set in a handle; used to spread substances, to scrape, to turn foods over and to serve them without breaking. Source: European Union. (references) |
Slang | Adjective. Source: The word spatula. Definition: It is a word that means a girl who is being annoying or a girl who is skanky. Context: It is used in the group to refer to a girl outside the group, when the offensive girl is with people in the group, and the group would like to talk about her without her knowing what is being said. Social Source: Students in the Lakeridge Alternative Program. Source: Compiled by The University of Oregon. (additional references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Receptacle | Shovel, trowel, spoon, spatula, ladle, dipper, tablespoon, watch glass, thimble. |
Vehicle | Shovel, spool, spatula, ladle, hod, hoe; spade, spaddle, loy; spud; pitchfork; post hole digger. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Yeah, well, ya' better have a spatula where we're goin' cause my ass is frozen to this yak. (The Golden Child; writing credit: Dennis Feldman) Tiffany, dear, would you please explain to this Spatula man why a bumper-sticker cannot possibly compensate for the shame and permanent reputation damage involved in a single date with Charles Ruttheimer (Daria; writing credit: Glenn Eichler; Peggy Nicoll) Hello, this is Sy Greenblum, president of Spatula City (UHF; writing credit: 'Weird Al' Yankovic; Jay Levey) | |
Song Titles | Spatula City (performing artist: Weird Al Yankovic) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
High Tech |
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Consumer Goods |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Plate 242. The Paddle-Fish. Polyodon spatula (Walb.), J. & G. Credit: National Marine Fisheries Historical Image Collection. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | He presses down a hissing hamburger with his spatula. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | To improve the adequacy of the cervical smear specimen, a variety of sampling devices is available (e.g., spatula, endocervical brush, broom, and cotton swab). (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Spatula" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Spatula" is used about 39 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 39 | 55,036 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "spatula": Lepidosteus spatula ♦ spatula clypeata. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "spatula": spatula-shaped. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
spatula | 108 | cheat legend lost spatula spongebob squarepants | 3 |
ministry spatula | 21 | silicone spatula | 3 |
fish spatula | 9 | atractosteus spatula | 3 |
kimera spatula | 7 | wooden spatula | 2 |
city spatula | 7 | legend lost spatula spongebob squarepants | 2 |
barbara johnson ministry spatula | 6 | barbara johnson spatula | 2 |
spatula plastic | 5 | spanking spatula | 2 |
offset spatula | 5 | rubber spatula | 2 |
stainless steel spatula | 4 | grill spatula | 2 |
spatula stuhhi | 4 | talking spatula | 2 |
bamboo spatula | 2 | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "spatula"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | shpatull (chuck, scapula, shoulder, shoulder blade, spoonbill, spreader), lopatëz (pallet, scoop). (various references) | |
Arabic | ملعقة الصيدلي. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | шпатула (slice). (various references) | |
Chinese | 小". (various references) | |
Czech | tìrka, špachtle (palette knife, scraper). (various references) | |
Danish | spatel (paddle). (various references) | |
Dutch | spatula, spatel (paddle). (various references) | |
Farsi | مرهم کش(طب), کفگیر (Splatter). (various references) | |
Finnish | lasta (splint, trowel). (various references) | |
French | spatule (spoonbill). (various references) | |
German | Spatel, Spachtel (scraper, spreader). (various references) | |
Greek | σπάτουλα (knifing filler, paddle, spackle, squeegee, stopper, trowel), σπαθί (club, clubs [cards], moonstone, rapier, sabre, sword), μιστρύ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | כף מריח". (various references) | |
Hungarian | szedőlapát. (various references) | |
Italian | spatola (depressor, putty, tongue). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 箆 , フライ"し (flounce, woman), スナック麺 (circlip, snack noodle, snake, snake dance, snakeskin, snap, snap ring, snapshot, snatch, sneak in, sneak out, sneak preview, sneaker, snob, snobbism, snooker, snoopy, snorkel, snow, snow boat, snow gun, snow mobile, snow surfing, snow tire, spark, spark plug, sparkling wine, sparring, sparring partner, sperm bank, spice, spider, spike, spike heel, spiked shoes, spiker, spiky cut, spiral, spurt, spy, studded snow tire), スパイ罪 (crime of espionage, fastball, ink spattering, slowing down, spaghetti, spaghetti meat sauce, spaghetti Western, span, span of control, spangle, Spanish, Spanish America, spanner, Spartacus Games, spasm, spats, speaker, speaker unit, speech, speech therapist, speech therapy, speed, speed ball, speed limit, speed skating, speed up, speed-gun, speedometer, speedway, speedy, spot, student slang for the restaurant chain "Spaghetti Factory", thank you, wrench). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | フライがえし, スパチュラ , スパーテル , へら. (various references) | |
Korean | 주걱. (various references) | |
Manx | spaddyl. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | atulaspay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | espátula (scoop, spreader). (various references) | |
Russian | шпатель (palette knife, putty knife), лопаточка. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | spatula, lopatica (blade, ember goose, paddle, scapula, scoop, shoulder blade). (various references) | |
Spanish | espátula (paletteknife, putty knife, spoonbill), espatula (putty, shovel, spade). (various references) | |
Swedish | spatel (squeegee). (various references) | |
Turkish | spatula (slice, spud), mala (float, spud, trowel). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | шпатель. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | spathe. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | spatula. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "spatula": spatular, spatulas, spatulate. (additional references) | |
| |
"Spatula" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: patulin, scatula, Shatilla, Shaula, spathula, spatil, spatule, Spotila. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "spatula" (pronounced 'Spat"u*la'): Acanthocephala, Acicula, Actinula, Ala, Algarovilla, Alula, Ametabola, Ampulla, Amygdala, Angola, Anopla, Aquila, Archencephala, Archiblastula, Areola, Armilla, Arolla, Artiodactyla, Auricula, Axilla, Baggala, Bandala, Banderilla, Barilla, bengola, Beteela, Blastula, Bulla, Cabala, Cabrilla, Caffila, Calcavella, Calendula, Calla, Camarilla, Campanula, Canella, Cannicula, Cannula, Capella, Capitula, Cappella, Carambola, Cedilla, Cella, Chinchilla, Chrysocolla, Cicala, Claribella, Coccinella. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-l-p-s-t-u" | |
-1 letter: pausal. | |
-2 letters: ataps, atlas, pasta, plats, salpa, sault, splat, sputa, stupa, talas, talus, tapas. | |
-3 letters: aals, alas, alps, alts, atap, laps, last, lats, lust, pals, past, pats, plat, plus, pula, puls, puts, salp, salt, saul, slap, slat, spat, tala, tapa, taps, taus, tups, upas, utas. | |
-4 letters: aal, aas, ala, alp, als, alt, apt, asp. | |
-5 letters: aa. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-l-p-s-t-u" | |
+1 letter: pastural, plateaus, spatular, spatulas. | |
+2 letters: apetalous, aspectual, asphaltum, catapults, spatulate. | |
+3 letters: asphaltums, cantaloups, capsulated, portulacas, spathulate, supravital, tarpaulins, ultrasharp, unpastoral, unpleasant. | |
+4 letters: antiplagues, cantaloupes, capitulates, encapsulate, manipulates, particulars, pastureland, spectacular. | |
+5 letters: antipleasure, capitularies, encapsulated, encapsulates, gamopetalous, hypothalamus, laureateship, manipulators, pansexuality, particulates, pasturelands, perambulates, planetariums, spectaculars, supernatural, supraorbital, supravitally, unpleasantly. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
