What does spadeful mean?
Spadeful is a specialist bridge term for a hand containing all five spades. It can be used as an adjective, as in “a spadeful hand,” or as a noun to refer to the hand itself. The word describes a particular and unusual distribution of cards rather than simply a hand that happens to contain several spades. Holding every spade gives a player exceptional trump resources, though whether that is advantageous depends on the auction, the quality of the cards, and the play. Outside contract bridge, spadeful is rarely encountered. It is usually associated with British English and appears mainly in reports, instructional writing, and conversations about the game. The word is built from spade and the suffix -ful, literally conveying the idea of being full of spades.
Containing all five spades, especially of a bridge hand.
"The auction ended with the opponents holding a spadeful."
Chiefly used in bridge terminology.
A bridge hand containing all five spades.
"North's spadeful gave the declarer an unusually powerful trump holding."
A specialist card-game noun, chiefly associated with British English.
The plural is possible but rarely used because the term itself is uncommon outside bridge writing.
"The final table featured two remarkable spadefuls."
In bridge, a spadeful is the hand that has collected every spade in the deck—a compact shorthand for a rare feat of distribution.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does spadeful come from?
Spadeful was formed in the 19th century from spade and the suffix -ful, meaning “full of.” Its card-game sense developed from the literal idea of a hand containing the entire spade suit. It belongs to the same broad word family as spade, spadework, and spadewise.
Related word forms
How spadeful is actually used
This is chiefly a British English card-game term. It is much less common in general usage and is usually found in discussions of bridge or bridge hands.
Easily confused with spadeful
A spade is the playing card itself or a digging tool, whereas spadeful refers specifically to a hand holding all five spades.