SPADE (2)

Spade, n. [[AS. spæd; spada; akin to D. spade, G. spaten, Icel. spaði, Dan. & Sw. spade, L. spatha a spatula, a broad two-edged sword, a spathe, Gr. σπάθη. Cf. Epaulet, Spade at cards, Spathe, Spatula.]] 1. 1. An implement for digging or cutting the ground, consisting usually of an oblong and nearly rectangular blade of iron, with a handle like that of a shovel. “With spade and pickax armed.” Milton.
2. 2. [[Sp. espada, literally, a sword; — so caused because these cards among the Spanish bear the figure of a sword. Sp. espada is fr. L. spatha, Gr. σπάθη. See the Etymology above.]] One of that suit of cards each of which bears one or more figures resembling a spade.
“Let spades be trumps!” she said. Pope. 3. 3. A cutting instrument used in flensing a whale.
Spade bayonet, a bayonet with a broad blade which may be used digging; — called also trowel bayonet. — Spade handle (Mach.), the forked end of a connecting rod in which a pin is held at both ends. See Illust. of Knuckle joint, under Knuckle.