Forms: 1–2 hlædel, 3 ladele, 4–5 ladel, 5 laddil, ladill, ladyl, ladyll(e, 5–7 ladell(e, 6 ladil, 7 ladul, 5– ladle. [OE. hlædel, f. hladan LADE v.: see -EL.]
1. A large spoon with a long handle and cup-shaped bowl, used chiefly for lading liquids.
a. 1000. OE. Gloss., in Haupt’s Zeitschrift, IX. 418. Antlia, mid hlædele.
a. 1100. Gerefa, in Anglia (1886), IX. 264. Cytel, hlædel, pannan.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 187/94. Sethþe salt heo nome And Mid ladeles on is wondene it casten.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIX. 274. A ladel bugge with a longe stele, That cast for to kepe a crokke to saue the fatte abouen.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1162. The cook yscalded, for al his longe ladel.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 283/2. Ladylle, pot spone, concus.
1468–9. Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees), I. 92. 2 laddils et 1 scomer de cupro pro coquina, 23d.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. vii. 36. Some stird the molten owre with ladles great.
1602. Plat, Delightes for Ladies, Recipe liv. You must haue a fine brason ladle to let run the sugar vppon the seedes.
1680. Boyle, Exper. Produc. Chym. Princ., I. iv. 48. The materials of Glass … having been … kept long in fusion, the mixture casts up the superfluous salt, which the work-men take off with Ladles.
c. 1718. Prior, Ladle, 135. A ladle for our silver dish Is what I want.
1744. Berkeley, Let. Tar Water, § 2, Wks. 1871, III. 462. Stir … with a wooden ladle, or flat stick.
1773. Lond. Chron., 7 Sept., 248/3. Punch ladles.
1844. Mem. Babylonian P’cess, II. 54. Jaffa contains some fine marble fountains, to which ladles are attached by chains, for the convenience of the stranger who is athirst.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Paying-ladle, an iron ladle with a long channelled spout opposite to the handle; it is used to pour melted pitch into the seams.
1895. Daily News, 12 Sept., 3/5. An egg-and-ladle race.
2. In various technical applications.
a. Gunnery. ‘An instrument for charging with loose powder; formed of a cylindrical sheet of copper-tube fitted to the end of a long staff’ (Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 1867). Also a similar instrument for removing the shot from a cannon.
1497. Nav. Acc. Hen. VII. (1896), 85. Charging ladells … ij, Rammers … ij.
1622. R. Hawkins, Voy. S. Sea (1847), 185. We … could not avoyd the danger, to charge and discharge with the ladell, especially in so hotte a fight.
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., viii. 34. The Master Gunner hath the charge of the ordnance, and shot, powder, match, ladles [etc.].
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), I 4 b. Cannon are charged … with an instrument … termed a ladle.
1851. Douglas, Nav. Gunnery (ed. 3), 518. To practise with the Eprouvette, charge it with a small quantity of loose powder, by means of a ladle.
b. Founding. A pan with a handle, to hold molten metal for pouring. Also in Glass-making, a similar instrument used to convey molten glass from the pot to the cuvette.
1483. Cath. Angl., 206/2. A Ladylle for yettynge, fusorium.
1495. Nav. Acc. Hen. VII. (1896), 195. Ladylles of iron to melt lede.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 404. Ladles are of three or four different sizes, and are used for melting the solder.
1839. [see LADING vbl. sb. 4].
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., Ladle, a vessel into which molten metal is conveyed from the furnace or crucible, and from which it is poured into the moulds.
† 3. Applied to the cup of an acorn. Obs.
1599. A. M., trans. Gabelhouer’s Bk. Physicke, 172/1. Take of the best Aquavitæ a quarte … and Akorne dishes or Ladles.
4. One of the float-boards of a water-wheel.
1611. Cotgr., Aubes, the short boordes which are set into th’ outside of a water-mills wheele; we call them, ladles, or aue-boords.
1673–4. Grew, Anat. Plants, III. vii. § 6 (1682), 138. The Ladles and soles of a Mill-wheel are always made of Elm.
1731. Beighton, in Phil. Trans., XXXVII. 11. The Ladles or Paddles 14 Foot long.
1875. in Knight, Dict. Mech.
† 5. Sc. ‘A burghal duty charged on grain, meal, and flour, brought to market for sale; also, the proceeds or income obtained from that duty.’ Also, ‘The dish or vessel used as the measure in exacting this duty’ (Jam., Suppl.). Obs.
1574. Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876), I. 14. The casualiteis of the mercat callit the Ladill is sett to Robert Millare, meleman, quhill Whitsone tysday nixtocum.
6. attrib. and Comb., as ladle-staff, -washer; ladle-shaped adj.; ladle-board = LADLE 4; ladle-dues Sc. (see sense 5); ladle-furnace, a gas furnace in which the metal to be melted is contained in a ladle; ladle-man, † (a) (see quot. 1750); (b) a workman who uses a ladle (sense 2 b); ladle-shell (local U.S.), a name for certain large shells (Fulgur, Sycotypus, etc.), which are or may be used as ladles in baling out boats, etc. (Cent. Dict.); ladle-wood Bot., the wood of a S. African tree (Cassine Colpoon), used for carving (Treas. Bot., 1866).
1744. Desaguliers, Exper. Philos., II. 92. Therefore the *Ladle-Board is struck by twice the Matter.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 197. To knock off the Floats or Ladle-boards from the wheels.
1853. Glynn, Power Water, App. 148. The floats or ladle-boards.
1832–53. Whistle-Binkie (Scot. Songs), Ser. II. 120, note. Farmer of *ladle-dues.
1880. Cooley’s Cycl. Pract. Receipts (ed. 6), I. 772. *Ladle furnace. This takes ladles up to 61/2 inches diameter, and will melt 6 to 8 lbs. of zinc in about 15 minutes.
1750. W. Ellis, Mod. Husbandm., III. I. 184. An Insect seldom, or never, misses attacking our green Cherries with so much Diligence and Fury, as to spoil great Numbers of them, by eating into their very Stone; and, because of this hollow Operation, we call them *Ladlemen, or the Green Fly, or Bug.
1884. St. James’s Gaz., 13 June, 11/1. Thomas Green, a ladleman … was fearfully scalded all over the body.
1885. Census Instructions, 93. Bessemer Steel Manufacture … Ladle Man.
1877. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 384. [The clay] is beaten in with a *ladle-shaped instrument attached to a long handle.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., V. 68. Put the Ladle home to the Chamber stedily holding your Thumb upon the upper part of the *Ladle-staff.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, VII. v. 219. What arte thou but a luske and a torner of broches and a *ladyl wessher.
