spud
/spʌd
/noun
1 informal A potato.Start by making the mashed potatoes: peel the spuds and cover them with cold water....
- The humble spud is high in vitamin C and potassium, and is a good source of fiber.
- The vegetable garden is doing quite well, with spuds, broccoli, onions, cabbage and garlic all starting to grow.
2A small, narrow spade for cutting the roots of plants, especially weeds.
3 [often as modifier] A short length of pipe that is used to connect two components or that takes the form of a projection from a fitting to which a pipe may be screwed: a spud washer...
- Take the spud washer off the pipe that sticks out of the bottom of the tank.
- Turn the tank over and attach the spud washer over the tailpiece of pipe.
4A type of ice chisel.
verb (spuds, spudding, spudded) [with object]
1Dig up or cut (plants, especially weeds) with a small spade.
2Make the initial drilling for (an oil well).The well will be spudded in late July and is expected to take just over two months to complete....
- A second appraisal well in the Hovea oil field is expected to be spudded later this month.
- Talisman had identified July 1 as the date it wants to spud its first well in the Eastern Block, in southeast Trinidad, but was unsure if it could meet the date because it had not been granted environmental clearance.
Origin
Late Middle English (denoting a short knife): of unknown origin. The sense 'potato' (dating from the mid 19th century) was originally slang and dialect.