spatulous

English

WOTD – 27 February 2020

Etymology

A spatula used for cooking

The leaves of the oblong-leaved sundew or spoonleaf sundew (Drosera intermedia) are spatulous and covered with mucilaginous glands on stalks which secrete a sugary nectar to attract insects

The Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) has a distinctive spatulous beak

From spatula +‎ -ous (suffix forming adjectives denoting presence of a quality, usually in abundance).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈspætjʊləs/, /-tʃʊ-/

• Audio (UK)

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• Hyphenation: spa‧tul‧ous

Adjective

spatulous (comparative more spatulous, superlative most spatulous)

1. Resembling a spatula in shape; having a round, flat tip.

   Synonyms: spatular, spatulate, spatuloid

   • 1819, Abraham Rees, “CONCHOLOGY”, in The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature. [...] In Thirty-nine Volumes, volume IX, London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, […] [et al.], →OCLC, column 2:

     [T]he ſhell of teredo is diſtinguiſhed as being tubular, cylindrical, and open at both ends, lower orifice furniſhed with two lozenge-ſhaped valves, and the upper with two ſpatulous opercules.

   • 1869 April, “Anthropological News”, in The Anthropological Review, volume VII, number XXV, London: Asher & Co., […], →OCLC, page 215:

     The Nova Scotian Giantess.—A correspondent had the opportunity of inspecting this remarkably large female [Anna Swan] during the exhibition at the Egyptian Hall, and forwards the following notes:— [...] The hand is spatulous; the fingers short and subequal in length.

   • 1886, Eveline Michell Farwell, “Square and Spatulous Tips”, in Fingers and Fortune: A Guide-book to Palmistry, 2nd edition, London: David Stott, […], →OCLC, pages 10–11:

     [page 10] Spatulous fingers, by which I mean those somewhat splay shaped, devote themselves to the useful, especially the physically useful, such as agriculture. [...] [page 11] Such fingers have superabundant energy, and though at first sight war appears utterly opposed to the qualities belonging to this spatulous type, it often affords an outlet to a craving for action and excitement which must find vent.

   • 1913 December, Joseph Conrad, “The Planter of Malata”, in Within the Tides: Tales, London, Toronto, Ont.: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Sons Ltd., published 1915, →OCLC, chapter IV, page 44:

     And he would turn to Miss Moorsom for approval, lowering protectingly his spatulous nose and looking up with feeling from under his absurd eyebrows, which grew thin, in the manner of canebrakes, out of his spongy skin.

   • 1921 July 25, Marius Adenot, Braking Mechanism for the Front Wheels of Motor Cars‎^[1], US Patent 1,437,080, column 2, lines 59–64:

     Braking mechanism for the front wheels of motor cars comprising a bearing cap mounted on the stub-axle of the car, a double lever pivotally mounted in said bearing cap one end of said lever being of spatulous shape, [...]

   • 2005, W. van’t Hoff, P. G. Duffy, “Urolithiasis”, in David M. Burge, D. Mervyn Griffiths, Henrik A. Steinbrecher, Robert A. Wheeler, editors, Paediatric Surgery, 2nd edition, London: Hodder Arnold; Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, →ISBN, part 6 (Urology), page 481, column 2:

     A group of syringoceles may open into the urethra by a spatulous ostium; these are classified as perforated syringoceles.

Translations

resembling a spatula in shape — see also spatulate