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spadeful

spadeful

1 5.0
An amount of soil a spade can hold at one time
  • noun
  • /ˈspeɪdˌfəl/
translation icon : pala
  • At that moment, as swiftly as before, the fat little boy threw another spadeful of sand at Larry.
  • a spadeful of dirt

Examples

  • With each spadeful of gravel, the path began to take shape under her careful hands.

  • And then finally, the first spadeful of dirt hit the top of the box.

  • She tamped down the remaining earth and threw a few spadefuls of snow on the spot.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Clear of that impediment, he tossed spadefuls of dirt after it, one after the other in a steady rhythm.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • He walked almost casually, carrying the spear low, braced in both hands, as though about to lift a spadeful of dirt.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • He didn’t notice her, for he was intent on his task, his eyes concerned only with the spadefuls of dirt that lifted from the ground.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Grunting at the unfairness of that, he heaved an overloaded spadeful of dirt from the hole, but when he lowered the shovel again and pushed in hard, he hit rock.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The gardener filled the wheelbarrow with a spadeful of soil to start planting flowers.

  • He dug a spadeful of compost into the garden to enrich the soil for the new vegetables.

Synonyms

shovel
vsspadeful
8 1.0

The amount of material that fills a wide digging tool

is the amount for a flat blade digging tool used to cut and lift
bucketful
vsspadeful
4 1.8

An amount that fills a bucket

is the amount tied to a digging tool rather than a carrying container
shovelful
vsspadeful
1 2.8

An amount of earth or snow that fills a shovel

is the amount for a flatter blade digging tool rather than a rounded one

How Much

bucketful
4 1.8
shovelful
1 2.8
spadeful
1 5.0
handful
81 1.0
spoonful
26 1.0
pinch
13 1.0

Surface Forms

spadeful singular
spadefuls plural

Morphology

spadeful = spade (transparent) = spade + ful

The noun is a regular formation 'spade' + '-ful' meaning 'an amount that fills a spade', which a B1 learner can infer from the base.

Etymology

Spadeful comes from the tool spade plus the part -ful, which means 'full of'. Imagine a spade filled with dirt — a spadeful is the amount that fits on the spade, so that is what the word means.