Definition of "spade" [spade]

• A sturdy digging tool having a thick handle and a heavy, flat blade that can be pressed into the ground with the foot. (noun)
• Any of various similar digging or cutting tools. (noun)
• To dig or cut with a spade. (verb-transitive)
• Games A black, leaf-shaped figure on certain playing cards. (noun)
• Games A playing card with this figure. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I say he called it as he saw it, a spade is a spade (no pun intended) He is human and to have an opinion is just that, an opinion."
• "But of course, the very reason most politicians avoid calling a spade a spade is that they know a great many people, including many Republicans, would recoil in horror if they ever got into specifics."
• "“We believe that failing to call a spade a spade is not scientific.” —"