Spoons

/spuːnz/ noun

Definition

Small utensils with a rounded bowl on a handle used for eating soft foods or stirring, or it can mean to cuddle closely with someone.

Etymology

From Old English 'spon' meaning a chip or splinter of wood, because early spoons were wooden. The cuddling meaning emerged in the 1900s, comparing the shape of two spoons nested together.

Kelly Says

The cuddling sense of 'spooning' is totally visual—two spoons stacked together look exactly like two people lying down facing the same direction, so people adopted the word to describe intimate closeness.

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