Spadeful

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quantity of earth, sand or other material that a single spade can lift or carry at one time
2. A scoop of soil or gravel held on a spade, the load one shovelful of a digging tool would carry
3. The volume of loose material that fits onto the blade of a spade in one lift

Etymology: "Spadeful" is about as transparent as English compounds get: a "spade" (the digging tool) with the suffix "-ful," which turns a noun into a measure of what that noun can hold. A spadeful is the amount of earth, sand or manure a spade lifts in one go, and the same pattern gives us "handful," "cupful" and "mouthful." The suffix itself comes from the Old English "full," meaning filled with or containing. In compounds it lost its stress and its separate identity, which is why "-ful" is spelled with one "l" when it is attached to another word, even though "full" keeps two. The result is a unit of measure built on the nearest available object, rather than a standardised quantity.

Synonyms: shovelful