billhook

American  

[bil-hook] / ˈbɪlˌhʊk /

noun

1. bill.

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billhook British  

/ ˈbɪlˌhʊk /

noun

1. Also called: bill.  a cutting tool with a wooden handle and a curved blade terminating in a hook at its tip, used for pruning, chopping, etc

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Etymology

Origin of billhook

First recorded in 1605–15; bill ³ + hook ¹

Example Sentences

Watch Tim Radford — in dreadlocks, just 36, the future of the sport — wielding his billhook blade and laying into his section of brush like the queen’s own tree surgeon.

From Washington Post • Jan. 11, 2019

Max Reinhardt, whose castle�Leopoldskron�overlooks the crenelated streets of the old cathedral town, sent some weeks ago an army of mercenaries against the riding school with billhook, adz, hammer, saw.

From Time Magazine Archive

Here he took the billhook and the saw from his assistant, and strode on, swinging one of the tools in each hand.

From Aunt Rachel by Murray, David Christie

The canes are cut with a billhook, one at a time; and being fastened together in faggots, are sent off to the crushing-mill on mules’ backs or in carts.

From Old Jack by Kingston, William Henry Giles

A part of it she had cleared with a billhook, and since then Madcap had trodden a rough pathway with her frequent goings and comings.

From Lady Good-for-Nothing by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

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