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Glite Dictionary
sugar spoon

sugar spoon

2.2
A small spoon used to serve sugar
  • noun
  • /ˈʃʊɡər spʊn/
translation icon : cucharita de azúcar
  • In the bottom of the deep silver sugar spoon are seventy holes forming five petals in a stylized rose.

Examples

  • When hosting tea parties, I always have a sugar spoon ready for guests.

  • She used a sugar spoon to serve the sugar for her coffee.

  • The elegant sugar spoon on the table matched the vintage tea set.

Synonyms

spoon
vssugar spoon
146 1.0

A small bowl-shaped tool with a handle used to eat or serve food

is the smaller, more specific serving utensil often shell-shaped
sugar shell
vssugar spoon
  • Archaic
5.1

A small spoon with a bowl like a shell used to serve sugar

has identical meaning but is the more general name without the shell label

Surface Forms

sugar spoon singular
sugar spoons plural

Morphology

sugar + spoon

The meaning 'a small spoon for serving sugar' is directly and transparently derived from the constituents 'sugar' + 'spoon' — it is a straightforward noun–noun compound whose referent is predictable from the parts. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English compounding rules, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Sugar spoon comes from the small spoon people used to scoop sugar from a shared bowl at tea or coffee, often with a shell-like shape on the bowl. So, it now means 'a small spoon for serving sugar'.