spades
spades Lexical Profile
spades Game Scores & Validity
• noun
One of the four suits in a conventional deck of playing cards, represented by a stylized black figure of a pointed leaf or spearhead with a short stem.
"She won the final hand by playing the ace of spades."
A popular trick-taking card game for four players in fixed partnerships, in which the suit of spades is always trump and players bid on the number of tricks they expect to win.
"The four friends stayed up late playing spades around the kitchen table."
The plural form of spade; hand tools with sharp-edged, rectangular metal blades and long handles, used for digging and cutting earth or turf.
"The volunteers grabbed their spades and began digging holes for the new saplings."
• verb
To dig, turn over, or cut into soil or turf using a spade (third-person singular simple present of spade).
"Every spring, he spades the vegetable garden to aerate the soil before planting."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to the trick-taking card game, 'spades' is treated as a singular uncountable noun (e.g., 'Spades is my favorite game'), whereas it is plural when referring to the digging tools or individual playing cards of that suit.
• Rhymes for spades
Word Origin & Etymology
The tool sense derives from Old English 'spadu', of Proto-Germanic origin related to a Greek word for a broad flat blade. The playing card suit sense comes from Italian 'spade' (plural of 'spada', meaning 'sword'), after the sword symbol used on Italian tarot and Spanish playing cards.