in spades en · ADP
Pronunciation
- /ɪn ˈspeɪds/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From the card game of bridge, in which spades is the highest suit. Perhaps influenced by phrases with similar meaning, in spadefuls or in spate.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) In large quantities; to a high degree; to excess, without restraint.
This caution hurt JPMorgan's profits at the time but paid off in spades in 2009, as the bank earned $8.5 billion in the first three quarters.
2009 December 8, Justin Fox, “The top 10 everything of 2009: Top 10 best business deals: 2. JPMorgan Chase and the deals it didn't do”, in Time, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2016:"He is three times that bad in spades," I said. "He ain't washed his socks in four months for one thing," […]
1954, Richard [Pike] Bissell, High Water (Atlantic Monthly Press Book), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, OCLC 760577; republished St. Paul, Minn.: Minnesota Historical Society, 1987, ISBN 978-0-87351-221-3, page 115Last year we harvested almost no potatoes, but this year we're getting them in spades.
Character the hotel has in spades. It begins at the parking lot, where bison roam.
1993 June 23, Patricia Leigh Brown, “Yellowstone’s landmark in logs”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 28 Apr 2016:
- (idiomatic) Beyond doubt.