The word spades is used for a card suit, a card game, and a digging tool. A standard deck has 52 cards.
| Meaning | What it is | Key feature |
|---|---|---|
| Spades suit | One of the four suits in a standard deck of cards | Black symbol: ♠ |
| Spades card game | A four-player trick-taking card game | Spades are always trump |
| Garden spade | A tool for digging and cutting soil | Flat, strong blade |
What Are Spades in a Deck of Cards?
Spades are one of the four suits in a standard 52-card deck. The suit contains 13 cards, from the ace through the king, and uses the black symbol ♠. The other suits are hearts, diamonds and clubs.
The spade symbol looks like an upside-down heart with a stem. Examples include:
- Ace of Spades: A♠
- Ten of Spades: 10♠
- Queen of Spades: Q♠
- King of Spades: K♠
Spades have no special advantage in some card games. In games such as bridge and Spades, however, the suit can have greater strategic value.
What Is the Card Game Spades?
Spades is a four-player partnership card game in which spades are always trump. Players form two teams, with partners sitting opposite each other. During each hand, players bid on the number of tricks they expect to win and then try to meet that bid.
A typical round works like this:
- Each player receives 13 cards.
- Each player bids the number of tricks they expect to win.
- Players take turns playing one card.
- Players must follow the suit that was led when possible.
- A spade beats a card from another suit.
- Each team scores points based on its bid and the tricks it wins.
For example, if hearts are led and a player has no hearts, that player may play a spade. The spade usually wins the trick because spades are trump.
What Is a Garden Spade?
A garden spade is a digging tool with a relatively flat, strong blade. Gardeners use spades to break soil, cut through roots, remove sections of turf and make straight-sided trenches.
A spade differs from a shovel mainly in shape and purpose:
- Spade: Usually has a flat or squared blade for digging and cutting.
- Shovel: Usually has a curved blade for scooping and moving loose material.
- Hand spade or trowel: A small tool for planting and working in containers.
The terms overlap in everyday American English, where many people call most digging tools shovels.
What Does "In Spades" Mean?
"In spades" means in large amounts or to a great degree. For example, "The team has talent in spades" means the team has a great deal of talent.
How Can You Tell Which Meaning of Spades Is Intended?
The surrounding words usually identify the meaning:
Words such as deck, suit, ace or king point to the card suit.
Words such as tricks, bids, teams or trump point to the card game.
Words such as soil, roots, turf, blade or digging point to the garden tool.
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