ladles

Noun

ladle (plural ladles)

1. A deep-bowled spoonlike utensil with a long, usually curved, handle.
   • When the materials of glass have been kept long in fusion, the mixture casts up the superfluous salt, which the workmen afterwards take off with ladles.1680, Robert Boyle, Experiments and Notes about the Producibleness of Chemical Principles

   Synonyms:

   dipper

2. A container used in a foundry or steel mill to transport and pour out molten metal.
3. The float or paddle on a mill wheel.

   Synonyms:

   ladle board

4. An instrument for drawing the charge of a cannon.
   • The great guns ranged along the deck — each bound fast by its new breechings — with their linstocks and sponges and ladles and rammers, made no idle show of warlike strength.1923, Charles Boardman Hawes, The Dark Frigate, Chapter 6
5. A ring, with a handle or handles fitted to it, for carrying shot.

See all 6 meanings of ladle