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

On that they gave me a woodman's billhook, and a seax,iii such as the churls wear, and one thrust a good ash, iron-shod quarterstaff into my hands.

From A Thane of Wessex by Whistler, Charles W. (Charles Watts)

These tools—hoe, billhook, and cutting knives—were excavated at Jamestown.

From New Discoveries at Jamestown Site of the First Successful English Settlement in America by Cotter, John L.

He came slowly down the ladder and, surrendering his billhook to Joseph, advanced and proffered a tremulous white hand.

From Aunt Rachel by Murray, David Christie

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