spade

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a playing card in the major suit that has one or more black figures on it
noun a sturdy hand shovel that can be pushed into the earth with the foot
noun (ethnic slur) extremely offensive name for a Black person

From Middle English spade, from Old English spada, spade, spadu (“spade”), from Proto-Germanic *spadô. Doublet of spatha, spathe, and épée.

I spaded up the whole patch, but there wasn't one. — Remarks, Bill Nye
The gardener’s spade suddenly scraped two paces from where they were sitting. — The Torrents of Spring, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
Here is spade, sword, which comes from spada; carvel, boat, which comes from caravella. — Les Misérables, Victor Hugo

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