Noun
wooden spoon (plural wooden spoons)
- A spoon made from wood, commonly used in food preparation.
- (idiomatic) An ironic prize for finishing last in a competition.
- (Cambridge University slang, dated) The last junior optime who takes a university degree.
- 1843, Thomas Macaulay, Sir James Mackintosh's History of the Revolution
- 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.
- 1843, Thomas Macaulay, Sir James Mackintosh's History of the Revolution
- (US, college slang, dated) 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.
- French: cuillère en bois
- German: Kochlöffel, Holzlöffel
- Italian: cucchiaio di legno, mestolo di legno
- Portuguese: colher de pau
- Russian: деревянный
- Spanish: cuchara de madera
- French: cuillère en bois
- German: rote Laterne
- Italian: maglia nera
- Spanish: cuchara de madera
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