La′dle.
1. (Founding.) A pan with a handle to hold molten metal. On a small scale, the bulletladle is a familiar instance. The large ladle used in the foundry is called a shanks (which see). Ladles are protected by a thin coat or layer of loam, and every time, before being used, they are brushed over with black wash and carefully dried. The example has a lunate-shaped plate F pivoted to the rim, and serving to keep back impurities floating on the metal.
2. (Ordnance.) An implement used for removing the shot when it is not wished to fire the gun. It is a semi-cylinder of copper, beveled at the end, and attached to a staff. For use, the muzzle of the gun is slightly depressed and the ladle passed in so as to run under the shot, which is received in it; when the ladle is withdrawn, it brings the shot out with it. b. A cylindrical scoop of copper for loading loose powder into a cannon.
3. (Pyrotechnics.) A copper scoop for filling rockets.
4. (Glass.) A vessel in which molten glass is carried. A cuvette.
5. (Domestic.) A large dipping spoon.
6. (Hydraulics.) The float-board of a mill-wheel.
