garden trowel
1
2.8
- noun
- /ˈɡɑrdən ˈtraʊəl/
:
paleta de jardín
- He used a garden trowel to clean the pot.
- a small garden trowel
- use a garden trowel to dig
Examples
-
The small garden trowel is perfect for digging up weeds in the flower beds.
-
Garden trowels and other digging tools are useful for studying plants and soil organisms.
Academic text (1995) -
Gutter scoop or garden trowel
Blog text (19) -
He had used the garden trowel to dig up small mounds of dirt near the wall.
Fiction book (2002) -
A bicycle helmet, a muddy garden trowel, a half-empty bag of potting soil, shiny cans with dribbles of color.
Fiction book (1996) -
Everything sharp is in there - hoe, shovel, pickaxe, axe, hatchet, garden trowel, even the scissors and kitchen knives.
Fiction book (2002) -
To plant her new flowers, she grabbed her garden trowel and got to work in the soil.
-
After carefully watering the seedlings, he used a garden trowel to turn the soil around them.
Synonyms
10
4.8
A small hand tool with a flat metal blade used to scoop and spread soil or plaster
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and predictably derived from combining 'garden' (an outdoor plot) with 'trowel' (a small hand tool): a garden trowel is simply a trowel used for gardening. This compound follows a common noun+noun composition pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the correct meaning.
Etymology
Garden trowel paints the picture of a small scoop-like tool used in a garden: a trowel is a pointed, scoop-shaped metal blade on a short handle for digging little holes and moving soil. So the name reminds you it is 'a small hand tool for digging and planting'.