ladle

Etymology

From Middle English ladel, from Old English hlædel, derived from Proto-Germanic *hlaþaną (“to load”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- (“to put, lay out”), same source as Lithuanian kloti (“to spread”), equivalent to lade + -le (“agent suffix”).

noun

1. A deep-bowled spoon 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
2. (metallurgy) A container used in a foundry to transport and pour out molten metal.
3. The float of a mill wheel; a ladle board.
4. An instrument for drawing the charge of a cannon.
5. A ring, with a handle or handles fitted to it, for carrying shot.

verb

1. (transitive) To pour or serve something with a ladle.
   One worker ladled molten steel into the shot sleeve.
   The host ladled the soup into her guests' bowls.