Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ladle \La"dle\, n. [AS. hl[ae]del, fr. hladan to load, drain.
   See {Lade}, v. t.]
   1. A cuplike spoon, often of large size, with a long handle,
      used in lading or dipping.

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

   2. (Founding) A vessel to carry liquid metal from the furnace
      to the mold.

   3. The float of a mill wheel; -- called also {ladle board}.

   4. (Gun.)
      (a) An instrument for drawing the charge of a cannon.
      (b) A ring, with a handle or handles fitted to it, for
          carrying shot.

   {Ladle wood} (Bot.), the wood of a South African tree
      ({Cassine Colpoon}), used for carving.

Ladle \La"dle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Ladled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Ladling}.]
   To take up and convey in a ladle; to dip with, or as with, a
   ladle; as, to ladle out soup; to ladle oatmeal into a kettle.

Source : WordNet®

ladle
     n : a spoon-shaped vessel with a long handle; used to transfer
         liquids
     v 1: put (a liquid) into a container by means of a ladle; "ladle
          soup into the bowl"
     2: remove with or as if with a ladle; "ladle the water out of
        the bowl" [syn: {lade}, {laden}]