spoonful

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
spoon/spuːn/

▶noun

• 1 an implement consisting of a small, shallow oval or round bowl on a long handle, used for eating, stirring, and serving food.

  ■ (spoons) a pair of spoons held in the hand and beaten together rhythmically as a percussion instrument.

• 2 (also spoon bait) a fishing lure designed to wobble when pulled through the water.

• 3 an oar with a broad curved blade.

▶verb

• 1 transfer with a spoon.

• 2 informal, dated (of two people) behave in an amorous way.

  ■ lie close together sideways and front to back, so as to fit together like spoons.

• 3 hit (a ball) up into the air with a soft or weak stroke.

– derivatives
spooner noun,
spoonful noun (pl. spoonfuls).

– origin OE spōn ‘chip of wood’, of Gmc origin; rel. to Ger. Span ‘shaving’.