Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
pick-mattock

pick-mattock

8.4
A hand tool with a pointed end and a flat blade for digging and breaking hard rocky soil
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪkˌmætək/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pico
  • The gardener used a pick-mattock to break up the stony soil in the backyard.

Examples

  • She packed her pick-mattock before setting out to restore the ancient pathway.

  • He used a pick-mattock to break the rocky ground.

  • A sturdy pick-mattock is essential for digging trenches in rocky terrain.

  • The pick-mattock is essential for our landscaping project.

  • The gardener used a pick-mattock to break up the stony soil in the backyard.

  • A sturdy pick-mattock is essential for digging trenches in rocky terrain.

  • She packed her pick-mattock before setting out to restore the ancient pathway.

Synonyms

pick
vspick-mattock
35 5.3

A heavy tool with a wooden handle used to break rock

pairs a pointed end with a flat blade to dig hard soil
pickaxe
vspick-mattock
  • UK
9 5.1

A heavy tool with a wooden handle and a pointed metal head for breaking hard ground or rock

adds a flat chopping blade as well as the pointed head for digging
pickax
vspick-mattock
  • US
4 3.9

A heavy tool with a wooden handle and pointed metal ends for breaking hard ground or rocks

keeps a flat blade on one side with a pointed end for digging
mattock
vspick-mattock
1 9.0

A hand tool with a long handle and a flat blade for digging and chopping soil

combines a pointed end with a flat blade for breaking hard ground
pick mattock
vspick-mattock
  • Specialized
8.6

A tool with a pointed end and a flat blade for digging and breaking hard soil or rock

is written with a hyphen instead of separate words

How Sturdy

shovel
  • Specialized
9 3.9
pickaxe
  • UK
9 5.1
pick-mattock
  • Specialized
8.4
mattock
1 9.0
spade
25 1.0
trowel
10 4.8

Surface Forms

pick-mattock singular
pick-mattocks plural

Morphology

pick-mattock = pick + mattock (transparent) = pick + mattock

A direct compound of two tool names; the meaning (a tool combining features of a pick and a mattock) follows straightforwardly from its components.

Etymology

The word pick-mattock simply joins two tool names: pick (a pointed tool for 'breaking' rock) and mattock, an old English word for a digging tool like a small 'axe' or 'hoe'. So a pick-mattock is one tool that both 'picks' and 'chops' to break hard soil or rocky ground.