pickaxe
Britishnoun
verb
Etymology
Origin of pickaxe
C15: from earlier pikois (but influenced also by axe ), from Old French picois, from pic pick ²; compare also pique 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Also on the U.S. target list are Iran’s buried stockpiles of fissile material and its construction site beneath Pickaxe Mountain, where it later hopes to enrich the material.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
The images at Pickaxe show movement of vehicles including dump trucks, cement mixers and cranes at the site to pour concrete, rock and soil on the tunnel entrances.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
A satellite image from 10 February shows what appears to be fresh concrete laid on top of one of the Pickaxe Mountain entrance areas.
From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026
The assertion came after US media reported that Iran had accelerated construction at a secret underground nuclear site called "Pickaxe Mountain", or Kuh-e Kolang, near its Natanz facility.
From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025
Pickaxe, pik′aks, n. a picking tool, with a point at one end of the head and a cutting blade at the other, used in digging.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
