spud

[ spuhd ]
See synonyms for spud on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Informal. a potato.

  2. a spadelike instrument, especially one with a narrow blade, as for digging up or cutting the roots of weeds.

  1. a chisel-like tool for removing bark.

  2. a pointed leg or stake for staying or supporting dredging or earth-boring machinery.

  3. a short pipe, as for connecting a water pipe with a meter.

  4. Surgery. an instrument having a dull flattened blade for removing substances or foreign bodies from certain parts of the body, as wax from the ear.

verb (used with object),spud·ded, spud·ding.
  1. to remove with a spud.

Verb Phrases
  1. spud in, to set up earth-boring equipment, especially for drilling an oil well.

Origin of spud

1
First recorded in1400–50; late Middle English spudde “short knife”; further origin unknown

Words Nearby spud

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use spud in a sentence

  • Old Warrender would lean on his daisy-spud a pleased spectator of the Arcadian scene.

  • Again he caught a glimpse of the boy's arm amid all that spud and foam.

  • spud Murphy, our officer, fought till his arm was disabled, but we continued to hold the trench.

    Into the Jaws of Death | Jack O'Brien
  • She walked up and down with her spud for another half-hour before she could come to any conclusion.

    The Necromancers | Robert Hugh Benson
  • spud answered with a joyous oath that it certainly looked like it.

    Under Handicap | Jackson Gregory

British Dictionary definitions for spud

spud

/ (spʌd) /


noun
  1. an informal word for potato (def. 1)

  2. a narrow-bladed spade for cutting roots, digging up weeds, etc

  1. Also called: spudder a tool, resembling a chisel, for removing bark from trees

verbspuds, spudding or spudded
  1. (tr) to remove (bark) or eradicate (weeds) with a spud

  2. (intr) to drill the first foot of an oil-well

Origin of spud

1
C15 spudde short knife, of unknown origin; applied later to a digging tool, and hence to a potato

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012