in spades

English

WOTD – 19 March 2017

Playing cards of the spades suit

Etymology

From the card game of bridge, in which spades is the highest suit. Perhaps influenced by phrases with similar meaning, in spadefuls or in spate.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ɪn ˈspeɪds/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

in spades

1. (idiomatic) In large quantities; to a high degree; to excess, without restraint.

   Last year we harvested almost no potatoes, but this year we're getting them in spades.

   Synonyms: in droves, abundantly, but good

   • 1954, Richard [Pike] Bissell, High Water (Atlantic Monthly Press Book), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, OCLC 760577; republished St. Paul, Minn.: Minnesota Historical Society, 1987, ISBN 978-0-87351-221-3, page 115:

     "He is three times that bad in spades," I said. "He ain't washed his socks in four months for one thing," […]

   • 1993 June 23, Patricia Leigh Brown, “Yellowstone’s landmark in logs”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 28 April 2016:

     Character the hotel has in spades. It begins at the parking lot, where bison roam.

   • 2009 December 8, Justin Fox, “The top 10 everything of 2009: Top 10 best business deals: 2. JPMorgan Chase and the deals it didn't do”, in Time‎^[2], archived from the original on 23 April 2016:

     This caution hurt JPMorgan's profits at the time but paid off in spades in 2009, as the bank earned $8.5 billion in the first three quarters.

2. (idiomatic) Beyond doubt.

Translations

in droves — see in droves

Anagrams

• Despains