wooden spoon

noun4

1. •
   A spoon made from wood, commonly used in food preparation.
2. •
   An ironic prize for finishing last in a competition.
3. •
   (old-fashioned) The last junior optime who takes a university degree.

   • We submit that a wooden spoon of our day would not be justified in calling Galileo and Napier blockheads because they never heard of the differential calculus. — 1843
4. •
   (US, old-fashioned) The lowest appointee of the junior year; sometimes, one especially popular in his class, without reference to scholarship. Formerly, it was a custom for classmates to present to this person a wooden spoon with formal ceremonies.