spoon

noun

1. An implement for eating or serving; a scooped utensil whose long handle is straight, in contrast to a ladle.

   “He must have a long spoon that must eat with the devil.”

2. An implement for stirring food while being prepared; a wooden spoon.
3. A measure that will fit into a spoon; a spoonful.

   “While Ms. Fly was with Sharon in the kitchen, Sharon asked the defendant for a “spoon of drugs.” Defendant refused and stated that he did not know where drugs could be obtained.”

4. (archaic)A wooden-headed golf club with moderate loft, similar to the modern fairway wood.
5. (slang)An oar.

   “To this class college rowing offers no attractions or place, nor are they generally looked upon by the artists of the "spoons" as a desirable addition […]”

6. A type of metal lure resembling the concave head of a tablespoon.
7. (informal)A spoon excavator.
8. A South African shrub of the genus Spatalla.
9. (archaic, figuratively, slang)A simpleton, a spoony.

   “To get all the advantages of being with men of this sort, you must know how to draw your inferences and not be a spoon who takes things literally.”

10. (US)A safety handle on a hand grenade, a trigger.
11. (slang)A metaphoric unit of finite physical and mental energy available for daily activities, especially in the context of living with chronic illness or disability.

    “We therefore have to meticulously plan out each day with the small amount of spoons we have. Each task will cost us at least one spoon.”

    “You work, and play, and clean, and love, and hate, and that's lots of damn spoons . . . but if you are young and healthy you still have spoons left over as you fall asleep and wait for the new supply of spoons to be delivered in the morning.”

    “Once you're out of spoons for the day, that's it, no more energy. So when you get down to your last couple of spoons for the day, you have to decide, what's the priority?”

    “But if you're running low on spoons, take some time out to recharge.”

    “He has frequent dizzy spells. His friend has Asperger syndrome. Both relate and support each other when they have run out of spoons.”

verb

1. To serve using a spoon; to transfer (something) with a spoon.

   “Sarah spooned some apple sauce onto her plate.”

   “Talbot champed away, finally spooning in resignation with the tinned fruit salad, calm of mind reached with the last piece of cheese, all passion spent in the third drained coffee-cup.”

2. (dated, intransitive)To flirt; to make advances; to court, to interact romantically or amorously.

   “By the light of the silvery moon, / I want to spoon, / To my honey I'll croon love's tune, […]”

   “Do you think we spoon and do? We only talk.”

3. (informal, intransitive, transitive)To lie nestled front-to-back, following the contours of the bodies, in a manner reminiscent of stacked spoons.
4. (broadly, informal, intransitive, transitive)To lie nestled front-to-back, following the contours of the bodies, in a manner reminiscent of stacked spoons.
5. To hit (the ball) weakly, pushing it with a lifting motion, instead of striking with an audible knock.

   “Law is in the field; the Criminal at the wicket. If Law makes a mistake—sends down a loose ball or drops a catch—the Criminal scores a little or has another lease of life. But if he makes a mistake—if he lets a straight ball pass or spoons towards a steady man—he is done for.”

   “Rosol spurned the chance to finish off a shallow second serve by spooning into the net, and a wild forehand took the set to 5-4, with the native of Prerov required to hold his serve for victory.”

6. (intransitive)To fish with a concave spoon bait.
7. (transitive)To catch by fishing with a concave spoon bait.

   “He had with him all the tackle necessary for spooning pike.”

8. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of spoom.

   “We might have spooned before the wind as well as they.”