adze

American  

[adz] / ædz /

Or adz

noun

1. an axlike tool, for dressing timbers roughly, with a curved, chisel-like steel head mounted at a right angle to the wooden handle.

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verb (used with object)

adzed, adzing

1. to dress or shape (wood) with an adze.

adze British  

/ ædz /

noun

1. a heavy hand tool with a steel cutting blade attached at right angles to a wooden handle, used for dressing timber

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Etymology

Origin of adze

First recorded before 900; Middle English ad(e)se, Old English adesa; of obscure origin

Explanation

An adze is an old-fashioned kind of ax or hatchet, used to carve wood. The very oldest adze blades were made of stone. Way back in ancient Egypt, an adze's stone blade was tied to its wooden handle. When metal blades replaced the stone ones, they were usually fitted into notches in the handle of the adze. These ax-like tools are still used today — their curved shape, with blades perpendicular to the handles, lends itself well to woodworking.

Example Sentences

Maybe the hero would lead a coup against the ruling Mansa, but be possessed by an Adze, or firefly spirit, telling him to turn back.

From The Verge • Dec. 13, 2015

Besides, I daresay it will have been washed away from where Adze put it in his bunk, the lurch of the ship having shifted everything to leeward.”

From The White Squall A Story of the Sargasso Sea by Schonberg, J.

Old Adze the carpenter saw to the matter as soon as we righted.

From The White Squall A Story of the Sargasso Sea by Schonberg, J.

He will prevent any further attempt being made to get that axe out of the fo’c’s’le—if it is there, as Adze says.”

From The White Squall A Story of the Sargasso Sea by Schonberg, J.

Adze, or hatchet, for cutting roots of trees.

From The Badger A Monograph by Pease, Alfred E.

Related Words

• blade
• knife