spud
/spʌd/noun, verb
spud is spelled S-P-U-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,145th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, spud means “A potato” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of spud is spuds.
How many letters and syllables are in spud?
| Letters | 4: S-P-U-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 42,145th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is spud?
Spud appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,145th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce spud?
- /spʌd/
Spud has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-spud.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of spud
- spuds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- spudding participle, present
- spudded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spud mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalA potato.
- 2
informalA hole in a sock.
- 3
A type of short nut (fastener) threaded on both ends.
- 4
obsoleteAnything short and thick.
- 5
USobsoleteA piece of dough boiled in fat.
- 6
slangA testicle.
- 7
obsoleteA dagger.
- 8
A digging fork with three broad prongs.
verb
- 1
To dig up weeds with a spud.
- 2
To begin drilling an oil well; to drill by moving the drill bit and shaft up and down, or by raising and dropping a bit.
- 3
To remove the roofing aggregate and most of the bituminous top coating by scraping and chipping.
- 4
To set up a recreational vehicle (RV) at a campsite, typically by leveling the RV and connecting it to electric, water, or sewer hookups.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spud in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | patate |
| German | Kartoffel |
| Portuguese | batata , escardilho |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does spud come from?
From Middle English spudde (“small knife”). Origin unknown; probably related to Danish spyd, Old Norse spjót (“spear”), German Spieß (“spear; spike; skewer”). Compare English spit (“sharp, pointed rod”). The use of the term for a potato perhaps first appeared in New Zealand and Australian dialect and slang.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).