stump spud
- noun
- Specialized
- The gardener used a stump spud to dig out the stubborn weed roots.
Examples
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After hours of work with the stump spud, the roots were finally removed.
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I need a stump spud to dig out the roots.
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A stump spud is essential for clearing overgrown garden beds.
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The gardener uses a stump spud for removing stubborn weeds.
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The gardener used a stump spud to dig out the stubborn weed roots.
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After hours of work with the stump spud, the roots were finally removed.
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A stump spud is essential for clearing overgrown garden beds.
Synonyms
A small tool with a narrow sharp blade for digging out roots and weeds
A small narrow shovel soldiers use to dig trenches
A spade with a long handle for digging narrow ditches
A hand tool with a flat rectangular blade for digging and edging soil
A tool or machine that digs and turns soil for gardening
How Heavy-Duty
- UK
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is transparently compositional: a 'spud' (hand tool for weeding) that is used for 'stump' removal, so the overall meaning as a tool for digging out roots/stumps follows directly from the constituents. Both elements are concrete and follow a common noun+noun compounding pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Stump spud mixes stump meaning the base of a tree and spud meaning a short pointed digging tool. Picture a small sharp shovel used to dig out a tree base and its roots, so the name came to mean 'a pointed hand shovel for removing stumps and roots'.