mattock
mattock Lexical Profile
mattock Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A versatile agricultural hand tool consisting of a stout wooden handle and a metal head, typically featuring a broad digging blade on one side and a pick or an axe on the other.
"The archaeologist used a small mattock to carefully break up the compacted soil around the buried artifacts."
• verb
To dig, loosen, or cut through earth and roots using a mattock.
"The laborers had to mattock the stubborn, rocky clay before they could begin laying the trench."
Word Nuance & Usage
A mattock is frequently confused with a pickaxe; while a pickaxe typically has pointed and chisel-like ends, a mattock features a broad, flattened blade (an adze) on at least one side for cutting roots or breaking hard ground.
• Rhymes for mattock
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'mattuc', a kind of pick or adze. The ultimate origin is uncertain, though it may be related to Celtic words such as Welsh 'matog' (hoe).