Scoops

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large, round utensil used for measuring or serving food
2. A quantity of something taken up, particularly with a spoon or similar tool
3. A sudden or swift action to gather or pick up materials or substances

Etymology: Long before it meant a quick grab, "scoop" was a tool: a bucket for bailing water or a shovel for digging. The English word came from Middle Dutch, where "scoep" and "schoppe" named bailing buckets and spades, and it has been traced back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning to cut or scrape. The idea underneath is simply digging or hollowing out, which is why the tool and the action share a shape. The verb grew out of that noun, so the sense of quickly taking up material came from the motion of the implement itself. A scoop in the sense of a sudden gathering action is what you get when you swing a shovel or ladle through a heap and lift it in one movement. Related words in other languages keep the tool sense, including the Old Frisian "skuppe" and German "Schippe," both meaning shovel, and the English "shovel" is a close relative.

Synonyms: spoons, ladles, dippers, shovels, pails