spatula

Meaning

Noun

1. A kitchen utensil consisting of a flat surface attached to a long handle, used for turning, lifting, or stirring food.
2. A kitchen utensil consisting of a flexible surface attached to a long handle, used for scraping the sides of bowls.
3. A palette knife.
4. A thin hand tool, often made of nickel, for handling chemicals or other materials, when weighing, etc.
5. A croupier's tool for turning up cards in a casino.
6. A sclerotized, T-shaped plate in the prothorax of larvae of flies belonging to family Cecidomyiidae, the gall midges.

Verb

1. To lift with or as if with a spatula.
2. To strike with a spatula.

Synonyms

tongue depressor

trowel

slice

fish slice

pancake turner

moonstone

palette knife

sabre

scoop

splint

spoon

🥄

sword

turner

rice spatula

food turner

tongue-spatula

applicator

glossocatochus

applier

club

float

ladle

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈspætjʊlə/

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin spatula (“a flat piece”), the diminutive form of spatha (“broad or flat tool”), from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “a broad wood or metal blade”). Doublet of spauld; compare spatha and spathe.