Meaning & use
ladle
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Meanings
nouncountable
A long-handled spoon with a deep round bowl, used for scooping and pouring liquid food from a pot.
Grammar: Can be counted: one ladle, two ladles.
Patterns
- a ladle of something
She hung the ladle on a hook beside the stove.
Pass me the ladle so I can serve the soup.
The ladle was so long that it reached the bottom of the pot.
verbtransitive
To scoop up liquid food and move it into a dish, using a ladle or something similar.
Grammar: Takes an object: ladle the stew; often followed by into or onto.
Patterns
- ladle something into something
- ladle something out
He ladled the chili into four bowls.
Volunteers ladled out hot soup to the crowd.
She carefully ladled sauce over the pasta.
Word forms
| plural | ladles |
|---|---|
| third person singular | ladles |
| past tense | ladled |
| past participle | ladled |
| -ing form | ladling |
Common combinations
- a soup ladle
- A silver soup ladle sat beside the tureen.
- ladle out
- The cook ladled out generous portions for everyone.
- ladle into
- Ladle the batter into the hot pan.
- a full ladle
- Add a full ladle of broth to the rice.
- a wooden ladle
- A wooden ladle will not scratch the pot.
Synonyms and how they differ
- scoop
- A scoop is a more general tool or action, often for solids like ice cream or flour, while a ladle is specifically for liquids.
- dipper
- A dipper is similar but usually has a shorter handle and is used for drawing water from a bucket rather than serving food.
- spoon
- Spoon is the everyday word for a small eating or stirring tool, whereas a ladle is much larger and made for serving.
Word family
Commonly confused: ladle or laddle?
ladle vs laddle
This is a common misspelling. The correct spelling has a single d: ladle.
Practice
Which spelling is correct? Please pass the ____ so I can serve the soup.
Choose one answer.
Ladle is the only correct spelling. The other options are misspellings, and laddle is the most tempting because of the doubled d.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ladle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.