spade

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a digging tool with a flat blade and a handle

   He cut the turf with a sharp spade.

2. 2
   noun

   one of the black suits in a deck of playing cards, shaped like a pointed leaf

   She led with the ace of spades.

3. 3
   verb

   to dig or turn over soil with a spade

   We spaded compost into the flower beds.

The tool word is Germanic, while the card-suit sense was influenced by Italian spade, plural of spada, "sword," from Latin spatha. The suit name comes from the pointed shape.

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