mattock

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a heavy digging tool with a horizontal blade, often paired with a pick or axe blade on the other end

   The laborer used a mattock to break the hard soil around the roots.

2. 2
   verb

   to cut, loosen, or dig ground with a mattock

   They mattocked a narrow trench through the stony field.

From Middle English mattok, from Old English mattuc or meottoc, a digging implement. Cognates in several Indo-European languages denote hoes, plough parts, or cutting tools, reflecting an ancient root associated with cutting or reaping.

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