Dictionary

eggspoonful en · NOUN

Etymology

From eggspoon + -ful.

Meanings

1. The amount that an egg spoon will hold.
   • In the ‘Wigan Observer’ of September 20th, there is an account of an inquest on a child, held at Platt Bridge. The mother had given a child of 5 weeks old two eggspoonsful of a mixture of laudanum [opium tincture] and aniseed, which she had heard from an 11-year-old girl that it was used to keep babies quiet. 1914 September, “A Coomfert”, in Kenneth Ward, The World of William Wickham: The Biography and Photography of a Remarkable Victorian, Havant, Hants.: Ian Harrap at The Pallant Press, published 1981, →ISBN, page 80:
   • It is almost impossible to give much guidance about quantities in the use of herbs and spices because their individual strength varies greatly as does the flavour of the food you are seasoning. Quantities are also greatly affected, of course, by the kind of dish you are trying to produce. As a rough guide, however, try to think in teaspoonsful for mild herbs and eggspoonsful for most spices. 1962, Jane Colin, “Introduction”, in Herbs and Spices for Health and Beauty, London: Arlington Books, →OCLC, page iii:
   • By this time the 7-weeks-old 5½-lb. baby was 10½ weeks, and weighed 7lbs. 10 oz., and the milk had been increased by 1 oz. to the pint of food. Now started Virol 1 eggspoonful per day, increasing the amount to 3 eggspoonfuls in 24 hours. [1912], Sarah Jane Hughes, “[Particulars of Cases Treated as in Previous Chapter.] Case No. 6.”, in Feeding and Care of Infants and Children: With Special Reference to Cases of Difficult Digestion, London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton Kent, & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 59:

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