Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A long-handled spoon with a deep bowl for serving liquids.
- v. To lift out or serve with a long-handled spoon.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A long-handled dish-shaped utensil for dipping or conveying liquids. Ladles for domestic uses are made in many forms and of a variety of materials. One form of foundry-ladle of iron, technically called a shank, for conveying molten metal from the furnace to the mold, has opposite handles for two men, one of them furnished with a cross-bar at the end for tilting the ladle to pour out the metal. For very large work such foundry-ladles are moved by a crane.
- n. A similarly shaped instrument for drawing a charge from a cannon.
- n. The float-board of a mill-wheel; a ladle-board.
- n. In glass manufacturing, same as cuvette, 2.
- To lift or dip with a ladle; lade.
- n. A burghal duty charged on grain, meal, and flour brought to market for sale; the proceeds obtained from that duty: from the dish or vessel used to measure the grain or meal.
Wiktionary
- n. A deep-bowled spoon with a long, usually curved, handle.
- n. A container used in a foundry to transport and pour out molten metal
- v. to serve something with a ladle
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A cuplike spoon, often of large size, with a long handle, used in lading or dipping.
- n. A vessel to carry liquid metal from the furnace to the mold.
- n. The float of a mill wheel; -- called also
ladle board . - n. An instrument for drawing the charge of a cannon.
- n. A ring, with a handle or handles fitted to it, for carrying shot.
- v. To take up and convey in a ladle; to dip with, or as with, a ladle
WordNet 3.0
- v. put (a liquid) into a container by means of a ladle
- v. remove with or as if with a ladle
- n. a spoon-shaped vessel with a long handle; frequently used to transfer liquids from one container to another
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old English hlædel, from hladan, to draw out, lade.
Examples
“The soup-ladle is my delight, and I could almost take the dear old coffee-pot to bed with me ....”
“She said the ladle was a proper utensil - it just wasn't being used for the purpose it was created, and if I didn't like that fact I didn't have to eat the squash.”
“In this case the Indian name is given in full for the kind of ladle designated, plain ware.”
“(rhymes with "ladle"), and it soon lands on one of its four sides.”
“When we had satisfied ourselves with the fish, one of the people who came with us from the last village approached, with a kind of ladle in one hand, containing oil, and in the other something that resembled the inner rind of the cocoanut, but of a lighter colour.”
“Rest a wide-mouth funnel on top of a jar and ladle in your goodies, leaving at least ¼-inch of head space.”
“Men would gather to labor all day and raise a barn for a young family in need; women would cook extra stew to ladle some onto the plate of a hungry neighbor.”
The Huffington Post: Suzanne Skees: The Real Motivation Behind Going Public in Philanthropy
“Inside, volunteers man two huge iron cauldrons, scooping out a ladle of boiled white rice into each container.”
Voice of America: Mogadishu Offers Little Comfort to Somalis Arriving From Famine
“At right, on a crumpled white cloth, a collection of kitchen implements is painstakingly composed—a tilted ladle, a gleaming jug, shiny copper cooking vessels and a favorite trompe l'oeil conceit of a knife on a diagonal that edges precariously into our space.”
“Then line the bowls with bread, ladle on the chickpeas and broth and let everyone garnish as they desire, and dig in.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ladle’.
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A Garnish of Pewter
A list of pewter items and wares gleaned from the literature, or found listed for sale in antique catalogs - from spoons to stills and chamber pots to church cups. A synonym for the larger, heavier...
teapot, porringer, flagon, wine funnel, pepper shaker, broth bowl, basin, candlesticks, tankard, beaker, measure, chalice and 154 more...
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Noodle and such
noodle, ladle, middle, model, muddle, addle, paddle, piddle, dreidel, toddle, poodle, streudel and 16 more...
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kitchen utensils
glass, knife, fork, teapot, oven, spoon, plate, frying pan, saucepan, masher, spatula, strainer and 13 more...

pterodactyl If the loony with the ladle
Eats the noodle from the middle,
Can a hobbit and a rabbit
Build a model of the moon?
--a scrap of half-remembered poetry
Dec 30, 2008
dontcry Ohh -- I love that one!
"Ladle vice...every morning you greet me... Dec 30, 2008
corylusavellana Singing: "Ladle vice..." Dec 30, 2008
chained_bear "With ladle I will play!"
(BTW, has anyone seen Stephen Colbert's Christmas Special? The song with Jon Stewart is pretty good.) Dec 30, 2008
reesetee "And when it's dry and ready..." Dec 30, 2008
chained_bear "I made it out of claaaay..." Dec 29, 2008
reesetee Ladle. Ladle. Ladle. Dec 29, 2008
mollusque I prefer antidouche as a word, though not as a concept. Dec 28, 2008
chained_bear Only when applied to individuals who deserve it. :) Dec 28, 2008
marky I suppose you guys like the word douche as well. Dec 25, 2008
reesetee I concur. Ladle. Ladle. Ladle. Dec 23, 2008
yarb What? Be off with you, ladle is a great word. Dec 23, 2008
marky Stupid word. Hate it (no particular reason, i just do). Dec 23, 2008