ladle

noun

1. A deep-bowled spoonlike utensil with a long, usually curved, handle.

   “When the materials of glass have been kept long in fusion, the mixture casts up the superfluous salt, which the workmen afterwards take off with ladles.”

2. A container used in a foundry or steel mill to transport and pour out molten metal.
3. The float or paddle on a mill wheel.
4. An instrument for drawing the charge of a cannon.

   “The great guns ranged along the deck — each bound fast by its new breechings — with their linstocks and sponges and ladles and rammers, made no idle show of warlike strength.”

5. A ring, with a handle or handles fitted to it, for carrying shot.

verb

1. (transitive)To pour or serve something with a ladle.

   “One worker ladled molten steel into the shot sleeve.”

   “The host ladled the soup into her guests' bowls.”