Word.ws English Dictionary

called a spade a shovel

called a spade a shovel is the simple past and past participle of call a spade a shovel.

Meaning of call a spade a shovel

Verb

call a spade a shovel (third-person singular simple present calls a spade a shovel, present participle calling a spade a shovel, simple past and past participle called a spade a shovel)

  1. To put it more than bluntly; to express a truth forcefully; to use exaggerated language to make a statement of fact.

Questions about called a spade a shovel

What is called a spade a shovel the simple past and past participle of?
Called a spade a shovel is the simple past and past participle of call a spade a shovel.

Words near called a spade a shovel in the dictionary

  1. called a cab
  2. called a go
  3. called a halt
  4. called a lid
  5. called a shovel a shovel
  6. called a spade a shovel
  7. called a spade a spade
  8. called a spade a spade and a shovel a shovel
  9. called a spade a spade, not a big spoon
  10. called ahead
  11. called an audible

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: called a spade a shovel (page history and authors); call a spade a shovel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “called a spade a shovel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/called_a_spade_a_shovel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.