plural of Sam Spade

(idiomatic) To put it bluntly, to be outspoken; to speak the truth, to say things as they really are.

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of call a spade a spade

simple past tense and past participle of call a spade a spade

present participle of call a spade a spade

(simile) Utterly black; pitch-black.

The fictional private detective created by Dashiell Hammett who was protagonist of The Maltese Falcon.

(informal) A private detective.

A long, narrow spade for cutting and digging turf.

(card games, usually in the plural) In auction bridge, a spade when spades are trumps under the condition that every trick over six taken by the successful bidder has a score value of 9.