spatulate
English
Alternative forms
- spathulate
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈspa.tjʊ.lət/, /ˈspa.tʃʊ.lət/
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective
spatulate (comparative more spatulate, superlative most spatulate)
- Shaped like a spatula; having a rounded, flattened extremity.
- Synonyms: spatular, spatuloid, spatulous
- 1903 December 26, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, OCLC 2093987:
- “I nearly fell into the error of supposing that you were typewriting. Of course, it is obvious that it is music. You observe the spatulate finger-ends, Watson, which is common to both professions? […] ”
- 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 804:
- For a moment he was sunk in thought, coiling (so it seemed) and uncoiling his long spatulate fingers.
- (botany) Of a leaf: having a broad, flat end and tapering into a narrower base.
Derived terms
- subspatulate
Translations
having a broad, flat end and tapering into a narrower base
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Verb
spatulate (third-person singular simple present spatulates, present participle spatulating, simple past and past participle spatulated)
- To treat or mix with a spatula.
- To incise the end of a pliable cylindrical structure such that the cut end can be splayed apart and flattened
Related terms
- spatula
Latin
Adjective
spatulāte
- vocative masculine singular of spatulātus