| spoon | 1. An implement consisting of a small bowl (usually a shallow oval) with a handle, used especially in preparing or eating food. ""Therefore behoveth him a full long spoon That shall eat with a fiend," thus heard I say." (Chaucer) "He must have a long spoon that must eat with the devil." (Shak) 2. Anything which resembles a spoon in shape; especially. A spoon bait. 3. A simpleton; a spooney. Spoon bait, a lure used in trolling, consisting of a glistening metallic plate shaped like the bowl of a spoon with a fishhook attached. Spoon bit, a bit for boring, hollowed or furrowed along one side. Spoon net, a net for landing fish. Spoon oar. See under Oar. Origin: OE. Spon, AS. Spn, a chip; akin to D. Spaan, G. Span, Dan. Spaan, Sw. Span, Icel. Spann, sponn, a chip, a spoon. Cf. Span-new. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| spoon nail | <clinical sign> Dystrophy of the fingernails, sometimes associated with iron deficiency anaemia, in which they are thin and concave, with the edges raises. Synonym: spoon nail. (15 Nov 1997) |
| spoon-billed | <zoology> Having the bill expanded and spatulate at the end. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spoonbill | <ornithology> Any one of several species of wading birds of the genera Ajaja and Platalea, and allied genera, in which the long bill is broadly expanded and flattened at the tip. The roseate spoonbill of America (Ajaja ajaja), and the European spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) are the best known. The royal spoonbill (P. Regia) of Australia is white, with the skin in front of the eyes naked and black. The male in the breeding season has a fine crest. The shoveler. See Shoveler. The ruddy duck. See Ruddy. The paddlefish. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spoonwood | <botany> The mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia). Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spoonworm | <zoology> A gephyrean worm of the genus Thalassema, having a spoonlike probiscis. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| spoonwort | <botany> Scurvy grass. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| sporades | <astronomy> Stars not included in any constellation; called also informed, or unformed, stars. Origin: L, fr. Gr. Sporades. Cf. Sporadic. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| sporadic | Neither endemic nor epidemic, occurring occasionally in a random or isolated manner. Origin: Gr. Sporadikos = scattered, L. Sporadicus (18 Nov 1997) |
| sporadic bovine encephalomyelitis | A disease of cattle caused by the bacterium Chlamydia psittaci and characterised by fever, depression, excessive salivation, diarrhoea, anorexia, and incoordination. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sporadic bovine leukosis | A rare disease of cattle less than 3 years of age, of unknown cause, characterised by the development of lymphosarcoma; three clinicopathological forms are recognised: calf or juvenile form, thymic form, and cutaneous form. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sporadin | Gamont stage of a gregarine parasite after it has lost its epimerite or mucron. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sporadotrichina | A suborder of ciliate protozoa having a body that is commonly oval to elliptical in shape. most species are free-living in widely diverse habitats. (12 Dec 1998) |
| sporangiophore | The stalk of a sporangium. (09 Oct 1997) |
| sporangium | <plant biology> Spore case, within which asexual spores are produced. (18 Nov 1997) |