| A spade is a tool designed primarily for the | | | | gaffer's tape, gaff tape, gaffa tape, gaffing |
| purpose of digging or removing earth. | | | | tape, cloth tape) is a strong cotton cloth |
| | | | pressure-sensitive adhesive tape used in the |
| Etymology | | | | motion picture, television, stage (music and |
| | | | theater) and audio visual production. The |
| The word in Old English is spaedu, cognate | | | | tape is manufactured in many colors, |
| forms being Dutch, Swedish and Danish spade, | | | | including fluorescent and custom colours, but |
| German Spaten; also related is spoon. It is | | | | the most common variety is matte black. This |
| derived from the Greek spathe, a broad blade | | | | matte finish keeps the tape from reflecting |
| of wood or metal, and so used of the blade of | | | | light so the tape blends in with the typical |
| an oar or sword,which was latinized as | | | | stage floor of a theatre. |
| spatha, and used of a broad paddle for | | | | |
| stirring liquid, of a piece of wood used by | | | | The tape is most likely named for the gaffer, |
| weavers for driving home the woof, and | | | | the head of the lighting department on a film |
| particularly of a broad two-edged sword | | | | crew. |
| military without a point, as in the title | | | | |
| spatharius. | | | | Gaffer tape is easily torn by hand so no |
| | | | cutting tools are necessary. The adhesive |
| The Spanish playing cards had swords for the | | | | used is a high quality synthetic |
| suit which we know as spades, and the suit | | | | rubber[citation needed] which leaves little |
| was called espada, hence spade in English; in | | | | or no residue when removed, in contrast to |
| Dutch schoppen, which also means 'spades', | | | | duct tape. When cables are taped down on a |
| not swords. | | | | stage or other surface, either for safety or |
| | | | to keep them out of view of the audience or |
| Designs of spades | | | | camera, they are said to be gaffed or |
| | | | gaffered. |
| Spades are made in many shapes and sizes, for | | | | |
| a variety of different functions and jobs. | | | | A narrow version of gaffers tape, called |
| There are many different designs used in | | | | spike tape, is used in many colors for stage |
| spade manufacturing. The most common spade is | | | | and theatre floor layout. |
| a garden spade, which typically has a long | | | | |
| handle, is wide, and is treaded (has rests | | | | White gaffers tape is also used extensively |
| for the feet to drive the spade into the | | | | by live sound engineers who place a strip |
| ground). An Irish spade is similar to a | | | | along the bottom of the mixing board allowing |
| common garden spade, with the same general | | | | them to label the channels used for a |
| design, although it has a much thinner head. | | | | particular show. |
| A turfing iron has a short, round head, and | | | | |
| it used for cutting and parring off turf. A | | | | A mosquito net offers protection against |
| digging fork, or grape, is forked, much like | | | | mosquitos, flies, and other insects, and thus |
| a pitchfork and is useful for loosening | | | | against diseases such as malaria. Its fine, |
| ground, and gardening. | | | | see-through, mesh construction stops many |
| | | | insects from biting and disturbing the person |
| Digging tool | | | | using the net. The mesh is fine enough to |
| | | | exclude these insects, but it does not |
| In gardening, a spade is a hand tool used to | | | | completely impede the flow of air. |
| dig or loosen ground, or to break up clumps | | | | |
| in the soil. Together with the fork it forms | | | | Mosquito nets are often used where malaria or |
| one of the chief implements wielded by the | | | | other insect-borne diseases are common, |
| hand in agriculture and horticulture. It is | | | | especially as a tent-like covering over a |
| sometimes considered a type of shovel. Its | | | | bed. For effectivenesss, it is important that |
| typical shape is a broad flat blade with a | | | | the netting not have holes or gaps large |
| sharp lower edge, straight or curved. The | | | | enough to allow insects to enter. Because |
| upper edge on either side of the handle | | | | insects can bite through the net, the net |
| affords space for the used's foot, which | | | | must not rest directly on the skin. |
| drives it into the ground. The wooden handle | | | | |
| ends in a cross-piece, sometimes T-shaped and | | | | Mosquito nets treated with insecticides -- |
| sometimes forming a kind of loop for the | | | | known as insecticide treated nets (ITNs) -- |
| hand. | | | | were developed in the 1980s for malaria |
| | | | prevention. These nets, impregnated with a |
| Small and/or plastic toy versions of the same | | | | pyrethroid insecticide like deltamethrin or |
| tool are used to dig sand castles on a beach | | | | permethrin, kill and repel mosquitos. |
| or in a sand-box. | | | | Unfortunately, standard ITNs must be replaced |
| | | | or re-treated with insecticide after six |
| Other use | | | | washes and, therefore, are not seen as a |
| | | | convenient, effective long-term solution to |
| In the oil and chemical process industries, a | | | | the malaria problem. |
| spade is a round piece of metal with a small | | | | |
| tab that is placed in between two pipe | | | | As a result, the mosquito netting and |
| flanges to give positive isolation from the | | | | pesticide industries teamed up to develop |
| central atom; usually to prevent cross | | | | so-called long-lasting insecticidal mosquito |
| contamination between fluids or to allow work | | | | nets (LLINs), which also use pyrethroid |
| on the line. The name comes from the shape: a | | | | insecticides, but are also treated with a |
| little like a garden spade. The small tab | | | | chemical binder that allows the nets to be |
| lets one see that the spade is in place. | | | | washed at least 20 times, allowing use for |
| | | | three or more years. |