wooden spoon

2 definitions found

wooden spoon - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Wooden \Wood"en\, a.
     1. Made or consisting of wood; pertaining to, or resembling,
        wood; as, a wooden box; a wooden leg; a wooden wedding.
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     2. Clumsy; awkward; ungainly; stiff; spiritless.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              When a bold man is out of countenance, he makes a
              very wooden figure on it.             --Collier.
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              His singing was, I confess, a little wooden. --G.
                                                    MacDonald.
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     Wooden spoon.
        (a) (Cambridge University, Eng.) The last junior optime
            who takes a university degree, -- denoting one who is
            only fit to stay at home and stir porridge. "We submit
            that a wooden spoon of our day would not be justified
            in calling Galileo and Napier blockheads because they
            never heard of the differential calculus." --Macaulay.
        (b) In some American colleges, the lowest appointee of the
            junior year; sometimes, one especially popular in his
            class, without reference to scholarship. Formerly, it
            was a custom for classmates to present to this person
            a wooden spoon with formal ceremonies.
  
     Wooden ware, a general name for buckets, bowls, and other
        articles of domestic use, made of wood.
  
     Wooden wedding. See under Wedding.
        [1913 Webster]

wooden spoon - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  wooden spoon
      n 1: a booby prize consisting of a spoon made of wood
      2: a spoon made of wood