mattock
1
9.0
- noun
- /ˈmætək/
:
azadón
- The gardener used a mattock to break up the hard soil before planting flowers.
- shovels and mattocks
- dig with a mattock
- mattock handle
Examples
-
The three-hour effort of lifting the mattock and tearing up the weeds began in the same corner of the garden, and he worked his way up one row and down the next with a steady pace that belied his age and infirmity.
Fiction book (1991) -
Back in those days, or even earlier, miners would use hand shovels or mattocks, in a coal port, for instance.
Blog text (9) -
How about having a go on the mattock?
-
I can take the mattock.
-
Gray is not the only man who can handle a mattock and shovel.
-
Pogue stood next to me, mattock in hand.
Fiction book (1994) -
The slave came after him, carrying two mattocks.
Fiction book (1993) -
"And he stood up, slung his mattock over his shoulder, and walked off down the dark passage of the trench."
Fiction book (1994) -
Pogue was waiting for me when I returned, whistling idly to himself as he cleaned the head of his mattock.
Fiction book (1994) -
They apparently had few guns with which to defend themselves; most were armed only with agricultural implements like axes, mattocks, and cane knives.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
4
3.9
A heavy tool with a wooden handle and pointed metal ends for breaking hard ground or rocks
A hand tool with a pointed end and a flat blade for digging and breaking hard rocky soil
Compounds
- Specialized
A tool with a pointed end and a flat blade for digging and breaking hard soil or rock
- Specialized
A hand tool with a pointed end and a flat blade for digging and breaking hard rocky soil
How Heavy
Surface Forms
Etymology
Mattock comes from Old English matuc, which meant 'a digging and chopping tool'. Think of it like a cousin of the pickaxe: the name has long been used for the simple hand tool we still use to dig soil and cut roots, which is exactly what a mattock does.