What does teaspoonful mean?
A teaspoonful is a count noun meaning the quantity that a teaspoon can hold. In cooking, it usually denotes about 5 millilitres, although the standard US teaspoon is approximately 4.93 millilitres and recipes may follow slightly different conventions. The word is especially common when giving directions involving small amounts of sugar, honey, spices, medicine, or other liquids and powders: “Add a teaspoonful of vanilla.” Its plural is teaspoonfuls. In informal figurative use, a teaspoonful can stand for a very small amount of a substance, abstract quality, or resource, often with an emotional suggestion that the quantity is insufficient. The expression is standard in British and American English, with the abbreviation “tsp” widely used in recipes and measurement charts.
nounThe amount that can be held in a teaspoon, commonly about 5 millilitres in recipes. Figuratively, it can mean a very small quantity of something.
- The quantity that a teaspoon can hold, used especially as a cooking measure.
- A very small quantity of something, used figuratively and informally.
"She added a teaspoonful of honey to the warm tea."
"Pour a teaspoonful of the mixture into the bowl."
"There was only a teaspoonful of courage left in him."
The plural is teaspoonfuls, including after a numerical quantity: two teaspoonfuls.
"Combine two teaspoonfuls of flour in a small bowl."
A teaspoon is not always the same size: recipe measures can differ slightly between British and American kitchens.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does teaspoonful come from?
Teaspoonful is an English compound formed from teaspoon and the suffix -ful, meaning “full of.” Teaspoon itself combines the borrowed word tea with spoon, a utensil whose English name derives from Old English spōn. The compound teaspoonful follows the established English pattern of forming a container measure from a vessel name and -ful.
Related word forms
How teaspoonful is actually used
The word is neutral and common in recipes, household instructions, and informal speech. When used figuratively, it emphasizes the small size of a quantity. British recipes commonly treat a teaspoon as 5 millilitres, while the standard US teaspoon is approximately 4.93 millilitres.
Easily confused with teaspoonful
A teaspoon is the utensil itself, whereas a teaspoonful is the amount it can hold.
A tablespoonful is three times the usual teaspoonful measure.