Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Spud |
SpudNoun1. An edible tuber native to South America; a staple food of Ireland. 2. A sharp hand shovel for digging out roots and weeds. Verb1. Produce buds, branches, or germinate; of plants. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "spud" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1908. (references) |
Note: Spud \Spud\, noun. A potato. [Colloquial]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definition |
Building & Civil Engineering | A long thin-bladed tool used for freeing the detritus round a stuck tool. Source: European Union. (references) |
Food & Agriculture | A hand tool with a narrow, sharp, curved blade, designed for barking round timber. Source: European Union. (references) |
| On a tractor, a stout metal arm at the rear of the chassis, which can be swung down into the ground to act as a strut to steady the tractor when winching. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Mining | A. To break ground with a drilling rig at the start of well-drilling operations. Syn:spud-in b. To bore, as the first 50 ft (15 m) of an oil well, by the use of a bull wheel c. To commence drilling operations by making a hole d. To begin the drilling of a borehole with a spud or diamond-point bit e. An offset type of fishing tool used to clear a space around tools stuck in a borehole f. A cabletool drill bit g. An anchorage during dredging provided by a steel post underneath a dredger that can be lowered by a toothed rack or by ropes until it issecured in the seabed, riverbed, or dredge pond. (references) |
Slang | Noun. Source: Comes from Middle English spudde dagger. Definition: Potato. Context: There are different kinds of potatoes, so they use another name to distinguish potato mud from them . Social Source: Carson Dining Hall. Source: Compiled by The University of Oregon. (additional references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
spud | English | Solar power unit demonstrator | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: SpudSynonyms: murphy (n), potato (n), stump spud (n), tater (n), white potato (n), bourgeon (v), burgeon forth (v), germinate (v), pullulate (v), shoot (v), sprout (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Vehicle | Shovel, spool, spatula, ladle, hod, hoe; spade, spaddle, loy; spud; pitchfork; post hole digger. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Spud |
| English words defined with "spud": Tan spud. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "spud": DRAKE, DUEL ♦ LABORER, TANBARK ♦ spud well, spudding driller, stepping ahead ♦ tanbark peeler. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I'm a married spud! I'm a married spud! (Toy Story 2; writing credit: John Lasseter; Peter Docter) He's an ugly little spud, isn't he? (Ghost Busters; writing credit: Dan Aykroyd; Harold Ramis) Well I'm a potato which is a spud and i have my antennas. (Friends; writing credit: Jörn O. Jensen; Birger Larsen) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | U.S.S. New York, spud race, anniversary of Santiago. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Adventures of Slim and Spud. "Call me a muttonhead, will ya?". Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | DUEL, n. A formal ceremony preliminary to the reconciliation of two enemies. Great skill is necessary to its satisfactory observance; if awkwardly performed the most unexpected and deplorable consequences sometimes ensue. A long time ago a man lost his life in a duel. That dueling's a gentlemanly vice I hold; and wish that it had been my lot To live my life out in some favored spot -- Some country where it is considered nice To split a rival like a fish, or slice A husband like a spud, or with a shot Bring down a debtor doubled in a knot And ready to be put upon the ice. Some miscreants there are, whom I do long To shoot, to stab, or some such way reclaim The scurvy rogues to better lives and manners, I seem to see them now -- a mighty throng. It looks as if to challenge me they came, Jauntily marching with brass bands and banners! Xamba Q. Dar |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Spud" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 53.57% of the time. "Spud" is used about 28 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) | 53.57% | 15 | 90,616 |
| Noun (proper) | 39.29% | 11 | 106,044 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 7.14% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 28 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "spud": spud in ♦ spud out ♦ spud up ♦ stump spud ♦ Tan spud. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "spud": spud-picking, Spud-u-hate, Spud-u-like. | |
| 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 |
spud gun | 574 | gun instructions spud | 7 |
spud | 162 | spud web | 6 |
spud webb | 160 | design gun spud | 6 |
mckenzie spud | 62 | dog mckenzie spud | 6 |
mackenzie spud | 49 | pic spud webb | 6 |
gun plan spud | 41 | brother spud | 6 |
gun make spud | 35 | bud spud | 5 |
launcher spud | 27 | dog spud | 5 |
spud triathlon | 21 | restaurant spud | 5 |
spud cannon | 21 | air gun spud | 5 |
build gun spud | 19 | barge sale spud | 5 |
gun pneumatic spud | 18 | gun mini spud | 4 |
spud wrench | 18 | dunks spud webb | 4 |
city spud | 13 | idaho spud | 4 |
spud webb jersey | 11 | mcconnell spud | 4 |
picture spud webb | 9 | mckenzie picture spud | 4 |
launchers spud | 9 | dunk spud webb | 4 |
barge spud | 9 | drive in spud | 4 |
john mcconnell spud | 8 | chip fish spud | 4 |
spud video webb | 7 | direction gun spud | 3 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "spud"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | shat (hoe), patate (potato, Pratie), gërmoj tokë, capë (rake). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | المر مسحاة صغيرة للحفر, بطاطس, بطاطا (potato, yam). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | картоф (potato), окопавам с мотичка, малка мотичка за окопаване, пускам сонда (drill). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | rýèek, brambora. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | stoetteben (anchor, shoe), tidseljern (thistle spud, weeder), pael til forankring af muddermaskine (spud pole), flad mejsel, barkspade (barking iron). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | spudpaal (spud pole), spud (spud pole), schilschop (barking iron), vlakke beitel, verankering (anchor, anchor block, anchor strap, anchor wall, anchorage, anchorage(for sheetpiling), anchoring, dead man, mooring, pinning, shoe), poeren, onkruidsteker (thistle spud, weeder), gutsvormig werktuig voor het loswoelen van een vis, guts (gouge, hollow bit), disteltang (thistle spud, weeder), distelschaar (thistle spud, weeder), distelhaak (thistle spud, weeder), boorblad, ankerpaal (spud pole). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | چاقوی کوتاه , کج بیل (Hoe, Scoop, Scuttle, Shovel), بیلچه مخصوص کندن علف هرزه . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | voikukkarauta (thistle spud, weeder), petkele (barking iron), ohdakerauta (thistle spud, weeder), lapio (shovel, spade), kuorimispetkele (barking iron). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | spatule de dégagement lame, sarcloir, tuyau d'amarrage de drague (spud pole), racloir, raclette, patate, gouge a repechage, forer par battage au câble, fer écorcer, embase, ciseau plat, bèche d'ancrage, ancre, écorçoir, échardonneur (thistle spud). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Jätmesser. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | κλαδευτήρι (pruning hook, pruning knife), σκαφείον αγκυρώσεως (anchor, shoe), σκαλιστήρι (cultivator, hoe, poker, weeder), μικρή αξίνη, πατάτα (potato), πτυολαξευτήρι, άλμα (jump, saltation), αγκαθοκόφτης (thistle spud, weeder), αποσφηνωτήρ μετά λεπίδος. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | szádoszlop, zömök emberke, rövid vastag tárgy, pózna (finger-post, line pole, line post, peg, pole, post, spar, stake), krumpli (potato, praties, spuds, tuber), kitűző (leader, pin), kis ásó, karó (crampon, crampoon, pale, paling, picket, pile, post, spike, spile, stake, stick), kapál (hoe, piaffe, to hack, to hoe), kapa (hack, hoe), kövér kis kéz, kéreghántó kés, irtó kapa, gyomirtó kapa, cövek (pale, paling, peg, picket, pin, spike, stake, stock). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | sarchio (dutch hoe, garden hoe, thistle spud, weeder, weed-hook). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | praase (potato). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | udspay pá de jardineiro, espátula de limpeza com lâmina, esfoladeira (barking iron), escardilho (weed-hook), batata (batata, potato, tuber), arrancador de ervas daninhas (thistle spud, weeder), âncora (bower, link, water-anchor). (various references) sapã (hoe, hoeing, spade), sãpãligã (hoe, Mattock, weed hook), sãpa (burrow, cave, cut, delve, dig, drive, engraft, engrave, excavate, grave, hoe, hole, hollow, inscribe, lift, mine, pick, sink, trench, undermine), mãr (apple, apple tree). (various references) картофелина (potato). (various references) krompir (potato), kratka lopatica. (various references) patata (potato). (various references) stötta (chock, prop, shore, stanchion, stick, strut, truss, underlay, underpin), stödben (anchor, brace, shoe, strut), tisteljärn (thistle spud, weeder), plugg (peg, plug, swot, tap), ogrässtickare (thistle spud, weeder), borrspatel, barkspade (barking iron). (various references) ขุ""้วยจอบหรือเสียม, จอบเล็กสำหรับขุ"ราก. (various references) spatula (slice, spatula), patates (Murphy, potato, tater), mala (float, spatula, trowel), kazmak (cave, cave in, dig, disinter, excavate, grub, hole, hollow, hollow out, mine, pick, pick up, sink, trench), kısa ve kalın şey, çapalamak (grub, grub up, hoe, pick, spud out, spud up), çapa (anchor, drift anchor, grubber, hoe, pecker). (various references) картоплина (potato), мотика (bill, hack, hoe, picker), зонд (explorer, probe, stylet [med.]). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "spud": spudded, spudder, spudders, spudding, spuds. (additional references) | |
| |
"Spud" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: apud, pdu, Psad, psd, psuc, psued, pudd, sapod, saud, Sepuh, seud, shud, skud, slud, smud, Spad, spald, spdt, spid, spjut, spmd, spod, spoid, spoud, spub, spude, spued, spug, spum, spup, squd, sud, supu, suud. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: dups, puds. | |
| Words within the letters "d-p-s-u" | |
-1 letter: dup, pud, pus, sup, ups. | |
-2 letters: up, us. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-p-s-u" | |
+1 letter: dumps, dupes, pseud, spuds, spued, updos. | |
+2 letters: cupids, cusped, cuspid, drupes, dupers, dustup, paused, perdus, pounds, prudes, pseudo, pseuds, pulsed, purdas, pursed, pushed, sendup, souped, spumed, stupid, supped, upends, upsend, upside. | |
+3 letters: adipous, apodous, cuspids, deputes, dispute, disrupt, dumpers, dumpish, dustpan, dustups, holdups, mudcaps, outsped, padauks, padouks, perdues, perused, podiums, predusk, prudish, pseudos, puddles, pundits, purdahs, pursued, pushrod, sculped, sendups, slumped, slurped, speedup, spoused, spouted, spruced, spudded, spudder, spunked, spurned, spurred, spurted, standup, stumped, stupids, sulphid, supered, suppled, suspend, unipods, unposed, upbinds, updarts, updates, updives, updries, upfolds, upgirds, upholds, uplands, uploads, upsends, upsides, upstand, upstood, upwards, upwinds, uropods, usurped, windups. | |
| 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. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Abbreviations | 13. Acronyms 14. Derivations 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
