# spud

> English word · Noun · IPA /spʌd/ · frequency rank #42,419

## Definitions
1. A potato.
2. A hole in a sock.
3. A type of short nut (fastener) threaded on both ends.
4. Anything short and thick.
5. A piece of dough boiled in fat.
6. A testicle.
7. A dagger.
8. A digging fork with three broad prongs.
9. A tool, similar to a spade, used for digging out weeds etc.
10. A barking spud; a long-handled tool for removing bark from logs.
11. A movable post through a sleeve in the hull of a work barge to anchor it to the bottom of a body of water.
12. A short central rod in a lighting fixture, for attachment to the light.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **su** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-su)
- **sun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-sun)
- **sub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-sub)
- **sum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-sum)
- **spy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-spy)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-sue)
- **SUV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-suv)
- **sup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-sup)
- **STD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-std)
- **Stu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-stu)
- **SSD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-ssd)
- **Syd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-syd)
- **Sus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-sus)
- **Sui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-sui)
- **suh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-suh)
- **Sul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-sul)
- **sud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-sud)
- **sued** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-sued)
- **stud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-stud)
- **spun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spud-vs-spun)

## Common misspellings (6)
`psud`, `spdu`, `sppud`, `spudd`, `sspud`, `supd`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spud