ladle

noun
/ˈleɪ.dəl/UK

Etymology

From Middle English ladel, from Old English hlædel, derived from Proto-Germanic *hlaþaną (“to load”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- (“to put, lay out”), same source as Lithuanian kloti (“to spread”), equivalent to lade + -le (“agent suffix”).

  1. inherited from *kleh₂-
  2. inherited from *hlaþaną
  3. inherited from hlædel
  4. inherited from ladel

Definitions

  1. A deep-bowled spoonlike utensil with a long, usually curved, handle.

    • When the materials of glass have been kept long in fusion, the mixture casts up the superfluous salt, which the workmen afterwards take off with ladles.
  2. A container used in a foundry or steel mill to transport and pour out molten metal.

  3. The float or paddle on a mill wheel.

  4. + 3 more definitions
    1. An instrument for drawing the charge of a cannon.

      • The great guns ranged along the deck — each bound fast by its new breechings — with their linstocks and sponges and ladles and rammers, made no idle show of warlike strength.
    2. A ring, with a handle or handles fitted to it, for carrying shot.

    3. To pour or serve something with a ladle.

      • One worker ladled molten steel into the shot sleeve.
      • The host ladled the soup into her guests' bowls.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at ladle. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01ladle02molten03red-hot04glows05glow06emit07machine08airplane09spoonful10spoon

A definitional loop anchored at ladle. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at ladle

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA